Canada's Heil wins oh-so-close race

PARK CITY — A race doesn't get any closer than Saturday night's dual moguls championship race between U.S. skier Hannah Kearney and Canadian Jennifer Heil.

"This is the most difficult mogul course in the world," said Heil, who defeated Kearney by one point to earn the World Cup Dual Moguls title. "I'm really excited to bounce back after Friday's disappointing finish. ... And it's always a pleasure to race Hannah. She's a great skier, we were head-to-head all the way down, it doesn't get more fun than that."

Kearney was happy about earning her fourth podium in her fourth competition this season, but she wasn't sure why the judges gave Heil the edge as she sped across the finish line just ahead of Heil.

"I don't know what they didn't like," she said. "I'll have to watch the tape and get back to you. ... That's the most consistent I've skied — ever. And that's thrilling. That's not something I've been a part of — the consistency club. So I am thrilled to join."

Kearney won Friday's mogul competition on the same course. In addition to being one of the longest, it was very firm due to rain last week.

"It was an incredibly difficult course that doesn't leave any room for error," said Kearney. "But it actually got easier as we skied. ... I have skied like a mile of moguls today. Enough."

Nikola Sudova finished third, while U.S. skier Eliza Outtrim was fourth in the women's competition. Seven U.S. women qualified for the finals in dual moguls, which meant many of them had to race against each other.

"It's an interesting dynamic," said Kearney, "because they are your teammates, but then you're competing against them at the same time."

U.S. freestyle head coach Jeff Winterstein said he was frustrated with the judge's decision on the championship run.

"I've been doing this 27 years and they got it wrong," he said. "Hannah won."

He was pleased with how the team skied, despite some difficult conditions and a number of crashes, including one where U.S. skiers David Digravio and Jeremy Bloom collided as they landed their first jump.

"The course workers did a great job," he said. "They re-worked the course ... It was a good night for us."

On the men's side, France's Guilbaut Colas won the gold as he edged David Babic from the U.S. Russia's Alexandr Smyshilyaev defeated the World Cup leader Alexander Bilodeau of Canada to earn third place.

---

E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com