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Freestyle World Champs Ready in Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy
By Doug Haney // U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association // March 9, 2007
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy (March 6) - The 2007 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships open after a six-week postponement because of poor snow in January. The championships were to have been held in late January, but the snow drought, which has plagued central Europe this winter, meant such a lack of snow that organizers postponed the championships until now.
Sixteen U.S. skiers will compete at the 2007 World Championships beginning Friday with aerials qualification and night mogul finals. Aerial finals are set for Saturday along with the dual moguls.
Nate Roberts (Park City, Utah) is the defending moguls world champion and he won two contests this season. Former Olympic and Worlds moguls medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, Utah) also won two events this season and finished No. 2 in the moguls points in her best winter since she won the 2003 World Cup moguls title.
In aerials, Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (Boise, Idaho) won two aerials contest this season and has fine-tuned his "Hurricane," a five-twists, three flips jump, the most difficult in freestyle skiing. He set records for one jump and for a World Cup event in mid-January at Utah's Deer Valley Resort, winning two in 24 hours.
On the women's side, Aerials Coach Matt Christensen said he feels Emily Cook (Belmont, Mass.) is jumping the best of her career and could be a surprise at the championships. "She's landing her triples [i.e., three twists, two flips] and Emily's ready to do something special," he said.
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