Freeskiing

Currier and Blunck Clinch Spots

by
USSA
2014-01-18 21:30
 

PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 18) – Lyman Currier (Boulder, CO) and Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, CO) join David Wise (Reno, NV) on the first-ever Olympic team for halfpipe skiing after taking first and second Saturday at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix. Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) took third in the fifth and final qualifier event. Nominations for the first-ever U.S. Olympic team for slopestyle and halfpipe skiing will be announced Saturday night.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Lyman Currier (Boulder, CO) and Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, CO) join David Wise (Reno, NV) on the first-ever Olympic team for halfpipe skiing after taking first and second Saturday at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix.
  • Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) took third in the fifth and final qualifier event after clinching his Olympic spot for slopestyle skiing Friday.
  • Halfpipe favorite Simon Dumont (Bethel, ME) put down one run but pulled out of the competition because of a knee injury he sustained Friday during training.
  • Nominations for the first-ever U.S. Olympic team for slopestyle and halfpipe skiing will be announced Saturday night.
  • Tune into NBC for special coverage of the final halfpipe skiing qualifier at 5:30 p.m. EST Sunday.

FINAL TOP-FIVE OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. David Wise 200
2. Aaron Blunck 180
3. Lyman Currier 180
4. Alex Ferreira 160*
5. Gus Kenworthy 140

*Did not achieve minimum criteria of two top-three finishes against the full field.

Official Standings Full List

QUOTES
Lyman Currier
I can't believe I landed on top! I went to the top and the only thing I could do was focus. It's so surreal. I can't even believe that this is going on right now. 

I think the Olympic fans will love this sport. We do crazy stuff and they will love it.

Last night gave me some confidence, but honestly it's so close between us and I could have been bumped off. There is definitely a lot of pressure and butterflies at the top, but as I did the run, they subsided. 

Aaron Blunck
I went down and did my run and when it came down to it I ended up in second place, securing my spot for Sochi. I could not be more stoked right now. I’m speechless. We have X Games next week so I’m going to go ski there and then we have some training after that. I think we’re going to come back to Park City. We’re going to just keep training and keep going.

Gus Kenworthy
I don't think the pressure really changed for halfpipe. Obviously, I felt relief that I had made the slopestyle team. I wanted to make both teams all along and I felt that the pressure was still on for halfpipe. I got another podium today, but I guess we will wait and see.

Making the U.S. team is going to be more difficult than it could be to win a medal in Russia. It's so deep. There are so many guys that are so talented in both halfpipe and slopestyle from the U.S. that while earning a spot for Russia, you are competing against all of the best. It feels good to make it in slopestyle, and I tried my best in halfpipe, so we will just see what happens. 

RESULTS
Official Men’s Results

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