Omischl wins National Aerials Title

PENTICTON, B.C. – It wasn’t the type of Olympic season aerialist and North Bay native Steve Omischl wanted, but he still finished the season on a winning note at the Canadian freestyle ski championships Saturday.

It's been a rollcoaster season for the Canadian champ.

Omischl, the 2005 world champion, missed qualifying for the Olympic final, but then won the season’s last World Cup and won his third gold medal at the national seniors.

“It’s good to be the national champion, but the only focus I had this season was the Olympics,” said Omischl in an article on the Canadian Freestyle Aerial website.

The North Bay native and Widdifield S.S. grad has been attempting unprecented new jumps this season with limited success partially because of nagging heal and ankle injuries.

“It was a gamble all season long and, as a result, I didn’t do well,” added Omischl.

Nevertheless, Omischl believes he’ll be unbeatable if he succeeds in mastering a pair of different quintuplet-twisting triple somersaults.

Saturday, he easily outscored his rivals with easier jumps, to produce a two-jump score of 245.09. A pair of Olympic team-mates joined him on the podium.


With files from freestyleski.ca website