Bahrke 8th in aerials in Moscow

By Freddy Perryman, U.S. Ski Team

MOSCOW -– Olympic veteran Emily Cook of Belmont, Mass., returned to the scene of her only previous World Cup win using experience and strategy to win again Saturday in downtown Moscow.

Scotty Bahrke of Tahoe City led the U.S. men in eighth as World Championship bronze medalist Anton Kushnir of Belarus won.

“I was pretty psyched. It was a great day,” exclaimed Cook. “I am pretty happy to be back on top of the podium.”

Saturday’s contest was a little unconventional. The jump, which was constructed of scaffolding near downtown Moscow, was not ideal and a strong headwind compounded to make for very sketchy jumping conditions, forcing both the men and the women to back off on the degree of difficulty. To address safety concerns the finals consisted of a single jump rather than the normal two.

Overcoming the challenges presented by the conditions, Cook continued to find good fortune in Russia. Her only other World Cup victory, back on Jan. 3, 2008, was here in Moscow.

“The biggest thing is that we stuck with the plan,” explained the experienced Cook. “It was our plan to lead out with the full double full and despite the weather challenges we did it anyways.”

In what turned out to be a one run final, Cook was the only competitor to attempt a jump with such a high level of difficulty in the first round. She was rewarded, scoring nearly eight points above World Championship bronze medalist Olga Volkova of Ukraine who was second.

The U.S. men, severely hampered by the wind and lack of speed, lowered their degree of difficulty to maintain safety. Bahrke, who finished eighth, was joined in the finals by Dylan Ferguson of Amesbury, Mass., finishing 13th. Matthew DePeters of Hamburg, N.Y., was 24th.

Official results, World Cup, Moscow, Aerials

Men

1. Anton Kushnir, Belarus, 119.91

2. Stanislav Kravchuk, Ukraine, 102.57

3. Guangpu Qi, China, 102.57

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8. Scotty Bahrke Tahoe City, CA. 95.35

13. Dylan Ferguson Amesbury, MA. 92.17

24. Matthew DePeters, Hamburg, NY. 61.15

Women

1. Emily Cook, Belmont, MA. 93.06

2. Olga Volkova, Ukraine, 85.83

3. Xin Zhang, China, 84.10

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DNS: Ashley Caldwell, Charleston, SC