Jennifer Heil earned her first World Championship individual moguls title in her last year of competition. Jenn Heil added the title of World Champion in single moguls to her impressive résumé with a score of 24.35. The USA’s Hannah Kearney was second at 24.31 and Summerland’s Kristi Richards took the bronze medal at 23.71.
In women's moguls, Jennifer Heil got the better of rival World Cup leader Hannah Kearney, beating out the American to win the gold.
“I just tried to focus on coming out here and skiing, I love to ski and knowing it was one of my last runs this year I just tried to ski with all my heart, that’s what I really tried to focus on all day. Hearing Hannah’s score just before I went really motivated me to push it more and again, just to ski with all my heart.” Heil said.
Heil’s win makes her the first mogul skier to win the ‘grand slam’ of freestyle titles, including: Olympic Champion; World Champion Single Moguls; World Champion Dual Moguls; World Cup Mogul Champion; World Cup Overall Freestyle Champion; and, FIS Rookie of the Year.
For Kearney, Wednesday’s finals race was especially close – one of the tightest margins in history. And she knew exactly where gold became silver.
"I missed the grab. My finger touched it, but I didn’t grab it," she exclaimed. That little mistake made all the difference for the judges, awarding Heil a score of 24.35 to Kearney’s 24.31. Kristi Richards of Canada earned the bronze. It was Heil's fourth straight win on the Deer Valley Resort course.
"It’s still a silver medal, with a mistake, which leaves room for improvement and it keeps things exciting," said an upbeat Kearney of her first loss in six consecutive individual moguls events. "A dual between the two of us might now have more meaning!"
Kristi Richards, finishing third, said her accomplishment today in bitter -20 degree temperatures, fulfilled a dream, “My goal was to stand on the podium at Worlds, so here I am, mission accomplished, I can go home happy.” She added that she’s looking forward to Saturday evening’s Dual Moguls event, “I’m excited for duals, and I’m ready to open it up and go a little faster and take the technicalities out of the equation.”
Men's and women's moguls skiers will get another chance to compete head to head Saturday Feb. 5 in dual moguls, the final event in the FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships.
