SKIING MOGULS: U.S. ON A ROLL WITH SILVER SURPRISE 19-YEAR-OLD MAYER EARNS SECOND; MOSELEY MAKES STATEMENT.Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer DEER VALLEY Deer Valley is an alpine ski resort in the Wasatch Range in the Park City area of northern Utah. Deer Valley is for skiers only, as it prohibits snowboarding. During the 2002 Winter Olympics Deer Valley hosted the freestyle moguls and aerial, and alpine slalom events. , Utah - The U.S. men's moguls team experienced everything Tuesday except making it to the top of the podium. One skier, happy just to be on the hill, took a silver. The defending gold medalist failed to medal but came away thrilled at pushing his sport. The sometimes-football player left dejected de·ject·ed adj. Being in low spirits; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed. de·ject  ed·ly adv. and
confused. And the veteran skier with the bad knees fell and aggravated
an old injury.
It was Travis Mayer Travis Mayer (born February 22, 1982 in Buffalo, New York) is an olympic-level Freestyle Skier. He won the silver metal in the moguls competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics and also competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics. , a 19-year-old who had been on the junior circuit and was added to the team only last December, who provided the U.S. with a surprising silver medal, just getting edged by Finland's Janne Lahtela Janne Lahtela (born February 28, 1974 in Kemijärvi) is a Finnish former athlete, who established himself as one of the most dominant persons in the history of moguls skiing. He is currently the head coach of Japan's freestyle skiing team. for the gold. ``A couple of months ago, I didn't even think I would be here,'' Mayer said. ``I was a development skier who barely made the team. I didn't think this would happen.'' Defending gold medalist and rogue Jonny Moseley Jonny Moseley (born August 27, 1975) is the first Puerto Rican to become a member of the U.S. Ski Team. Early years Moseley was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1978, he saw snow for the first time when his family went on a trip to California. came in fourth but left pumped after twice hitting his unique Dinner Roll, sort of a gravity- defying, parallel spin with his head facing the mountain. It's a Moseley original, a trick no one else attempted. Mayer, who led the field after the qualifying, was the last skier to make a run Tuesday and pushed Moseley off the podium with his run. Moseley, however, came away figuring he had won. ``It turned out better than I ever could have imagined,'' Moseley said. ``I feel like I did something to contribute to the sport. It turned into a very personal thing. I wanted to do something special.'' Jeremy Bloom Jeremy Ryan Bloom (born April 2, 1982 in Fort Collins, Colorado) is an American Olympic skier, fashion model, VJ, and an American football player. Early life Bloom grew up in Loveland, Colorado. , who has a football scholarship at Colorado waiting and entered the event ranked first in the world, finished a disappointing ninth. ``I just didn't ski well all week,'' Bloom said. ``I wasn't afraid I was going to fall, I just didn't have confidence, for whatever reason. It was like in the back of my mind, that I just couldn't score well.'' Mayer was probably the last guy on the hill who should have had confidence, but he told coach Jeff Wintersteen early in the week he felt ``invincible.'' ``He told me, `I feel like I can slay slay tr.v. slew , slain , slay·ing, slays 1. To kill violently. 2. past tense and past participle often slayed Slang a dragon,' '' Wintersteen said. ``We've been calling him `Dragon' all week.'' Dragon is a student at Cornell, so he is familiar with facing his fears. ``Cornell is more of a dull pain,'' he said. ``It's a cataclysmic cat·a·clysm n. 1. A violent upheaval that causes great destruction or brings about a fundamental change. 2. A violent and sudden change in the earth's crust. 3. A devastating flood. explosion on the mogul course, as opposed to a gradual blood-letting at Cornell.'' Mayer might have stolen the gold from Lahtela - who took silver at the Nagano Olympics four years ago behind Moseley - but on his second jump, his expected four-element trick ended up a more simple triple-twist. Mayer said he almost came down the mountain a little too fast. ``When I came off (the jump) I decided I'd be better off executing the triple instead of the quad,'' he said. ``It was sort of a game-time decision. I felt I was a little off. ``There were a couple of times in there when I was a little worried if about being able to make it.'' Said Wintersteen: ``He was a little off and got bucked around on the second jump. If he'd gotten that off instead of the triple, he probably would have taken the gold.'' Before Mayer, who turns 20 in nine days, took off on his medal run, he smiled and appeared amazingly relaxed. ``There was no place I would rather be than at that starting gate starting gate n. Sports 1. A series of stalls with interconnected doors that open simultaneously at the beginning of a race. 2. at the Olympic Games Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The Olympics of Ancient Greece Although records cannot verify games earlier than 776 B.C. ,'' he said. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jonny Moseley of the United States celebrates after his run in the moguls Tuesday. He finished fourth. Laura Rauch/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion