The Canadian team, made up of Marion Thenault, Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving, won the bronze medal in the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials event at the Beijing Olympics.
The Quebecer missed her landing during her jump which gave her team a score of 62.74. Canada was still in third place after one lap due to a missed jump by Switzerland’s Alexandra Baer who had clocked 57.01. At just 18 years old, Fontaine shined in the second wave with a maneuver that earned him an impressive total of 116.48 to have a 13-point lead over Switzerland going into the final jump.
Team Switzerland’s Noe Roth opened the door for Canada when he touched the ground with his hand as he landed on the snow. Irving therefore needed to obtain 97 points to ensure a medal for Canada following the 110 points of his rival. He managed to avoid touching the ground at the end of his maneuver and the judges rewarded him with a score of 111.76 and Canada posted a total of 290.98 points for this final. He thus won a medal during the first presentation of this competition at the Olympics.
The competition was won by the Americans with an impressive total of 338.34 points. China followed in second place for the silver medal with 324.22 points.
The Canadian team secured their qualification for the final with a third place finish in the opening round. The four best formations out of the six in contention reached the final.
Thenault set the tone for the competition as the first female skier to perform in the Canadian clan. She succeeded in her maneuver to receive a score of 93.06 points from the judges. Fontaine then chased away the jitters of being at her first Olympics with a very successful jump that propelled Canada to the provisional top spot with a score of 113.97 points. Lewis Irving confirmed the Canadian qualification for the final stage following his double twists and a score of 119.91 was more than enough.
