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Dual moguls wins mean double gold for Laffont and Pavlenko
It was another big day for two of the rising stars in the world of moguls skiing, as 16-year-old Perrine Laffont (FRA) and 20-year-old Sergey Pavlenko (RUS) each made it two wins in a row on Thursday, taking dual moguls gold at the Valmalenco 2015 Freestyle Ski Junior World Championships.
Both Laffont and Pavlenko were coming off gold medal performances in the previous day's single moguls competition, and both were able to match that performance with resounding wins (each skier winning their big final by 25-0 scores) in a dual moguls format that is typically much more unpredictable than the singles competition.
Laffont and Pavlenko both put up some strong results on the World Cup tour this season, with Pavlenko finishing 2014/15 with a career-best seventh-place result in Megeve and Laffont scoring an impressive sixth-place finish in January at the 2015 World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria.
As Laffont and Pavlenko leave Valmalenco with a pair of gold medals, it appears both athletes are poised to make some real noise on the moguls World Cup next season.
The ladies' silver medal went to Anastasiya Safiulina (RUS), in an impressive performance by the 17 year old skier who has no World Cups and only a handful of FIS races to her credit. Third on the day and the bronze medal went to Laffont's teammate Lea Bouard (FRA), as she gears up to make the transition to full-time World Cup action next season.
Fourth place for the ladies went to Hedvig Wessel (NOR), as she narrowly lost out in her small final dual with Bouard, scoring 12 points to Bouards 13.
For the men, Pavlenko's teammate Egor Anufriev (RUS) took silver for the second straight day, making for a very impressive weekend for the young Russian moguls team. Combined with the previous day's sweep of the podium by the Russian men, the Anufriev and his teammates managed to take fully half of the 12 podium places available over two days of moguls competition.
Bronze for the men went to Casey Adringa (USA), another skier who will be looking to make his World Cup debut next season. Adringa was able to beat out Olli Penttala (FIN) by a score of 15-10 in their small final matchup.
Up next in Valmalenco will be slopestyle competition, with qualifications taking place on Friday and finals on Saturday.
Both Laffont and Pavlenko were coming off gold medal performances in the previous day's single moguls competition, and both were able to match that performance with resounding wins (each skier winning their big final by 25-0 scores) in a dual moguls format that is typically much more unpredictable than the singles competition.
Laffont and Pavlenko both put up some strong results on the World Cup tour this season, with Pavlenko finishing 2014/15 with a career-best seventh-place result in Megeve and Laffont scoring an impressive sixth-place finish in January at the 2015 World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria.
As Laffont and Pavlenko leave Valmalenco with a pair of gold medals, it appears both athletes are poised to make some real noise on the moguls World Cup next season.
The ladies' silver medal went to Anastasiya Safiulina (RUS), in an impressive performance by the 17 year old skier who has no World Cups and only a handful of FIS races to her credit. Third on the day and the bronze medal went to Laffont's teammate Lea Bouard (FRA), as she gears up to make the transition to full-time World Cup action next season.
Fourth place for the ladies went to Hedvig Wessel (NOR), as she narrowly lost out in her small final dual with Bouard, scoring 12 points to Bouards 13.
For the men, Pavlenko's teammate Egor Anufriev (RUS) took silver for the second straight day, making for a very impressive weekend for the young Russian moguls team. Combined with the previous day's sweep of the podium by the Russian men, the Anufriev and his teammates managed to take fully half of the 12 podium places available over two days of moguls competition.
Bronze for the men went to Casey Adringa (USA), another skier who will be looking to make his World Cup debut next season. Adringa was able to beat out Olli Penttala (FIN) by a score of 15-10 in their small final matchup.
Up next in Valmalenco will be slopestyle competition, with qualifications taking place on Friday and finals on Saturday.
Source: fis-ski.com
