On 22^nd May, the “Freestyle Committee” was held and some of our staff members attended the meeting including our Director-General of the Organizing Committee and reported on the summary of results of the Championships such as the media presence and PR activities and the number of visitors, as well as thanked FIS officials for their supports on the Championships. FIS Freestyle Committee Chairman, Chris Robinson who attended the Inawashiro World Championships returned compliments with “Great Success!” again on the event organization.

It has been two and a half months already since the Championships was over yet we all hope that the World Championships held in Inawashiro contributes to the further development of the future Freestyle Skiing.

Again, to all of you have supported and cooperated with us to organize the Championships, thank you very much!!

This post showing past Freestyle World Championships hosting city / nation / year / its distance and direction from Inawashiro as well was donated from companies constructed “Manabena”. It marks here as a sign that Inawashiro hosted the Freestyle World Championships in 2009. After the event, “Manabena” will be an exchanging ground of learning & cultural activities for many people including local residents in Inawashiro.

The sign post marking a history of the Freestyle World Championships from the 1^st (Tignes, France in 1986) to the 12^th held here gets us to realize that town Inawashiro has become “INAWASHIRO in the world” thanks to organization of the World Championships.

To all of you in the world supported us to organize the event, thank you very much!! Please check the commemorative sign post when you visit “Manabena”.

Three medalists and one athlete in fourth place. Ceremony goes down in history.

Four Japanese athletes were present at the medal ceremony for the men’s and ladies’ dual moguls event, which was the last discipline to take place, and it was a historical scene as nothing like this has happened at previous World Championship events. The packed venue was full of excitement from beginning to end.

Gold medalist Aiko Uemura, silver medalists Miki Ito and Nobuyuki Nishi, fourth place Tae Satoya were present. They were flooded with flashing lights and showed expressions of joy.

For the foreign teams, men’s gold Alexandre Bilodeau (Canada) won his first medal at the World Championships. Men’s bronze medalist Tapio Luusua (Finland) won his second medal following yesterday’s event. Hannah Kearney (USA) won her second medal at a World Championships event, her first being the gold at the 2005 moguls competition. The athletes viewed various expressions, showing their different emotions.

The closing ceremony was held afterwards, and Chairman Chris Robinson of the FIS Freestyle Ski Committee took to the podium to address the closing of the event. The World Championships flag and FIS flag were passed on to Deer Valley, the host city of the next World Championships in 2011, as the 2009 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships Inawashiro came to a close.

Japanese Athletes dominate half the podium! Winners express their joy

The dual moguls men’s and ladies’ medalists press conference took place from 3:05pm following the flower ceremony that took place at the Daffy Course.

The Japanese team filled half of the spots, as ladies’ gold medalist Aiko Uemura, silver medalist Miki Ito, and men’s silver medalist Nobuyuki Nishi were present.

Uemura, who won two days in a row, said “maybe I was still in the afterglow of winning yesterday’s singles competition, but I had a difficult time concentrating on today’s duals. Plus, the condition of the snow changed from this morning and afternoon, and I made so many small mistakes. It was a really tough race. Despite that, I was still able to leave a good result, and I believe that was because of everybody’s support. Thank you so much.”

The ladies’ final was a dream match between Japanese athletes, and Miki Ito was defeated, but still had a look of satisfaction. She commented with a bright smile “I’m really happy that I was able to give my best performance here with so much support.”

Nobuyuki Nishi, overflowing with emotion, said “I’m happy. I was able to perform my best at Listel’s difficult course. My father was here today, and I think I was able to make him proud.”

Men’s gold medalist Alexandre Bilodeau (Canada) said “I’m really satisfied with my run. I love Japan, and I’m so happy I was finally able to win in this country.” He seemed very pleased to hold two victories, winning here at the World Championships and the World Cup title.

One step away from dominating the podium, Tae Satoya placing fourth

Besides the three athletes that stood on the podium, there were five other Japanese competitors in the dual moguls that took place on the eighth. Arisa Murata, the future hope, had a good match and finished the qualification at eleventh place. She was defeated in the first round of the finals competing against fellow teammate Miki Ito, but she acquired the courage to compete in big events, and showed her remarkable airs. This experience will definitely be a plus for her career.

Tae Satoya also glided through the qualification. She defeated the silver medalist of Salt Lake Olympics, Shannon Bahrke (USA) in the first round of the finals to proceed to the quarterfinals. She then went on to the semifinals, placing in the best four with Aiko Uemura and Miki Ito.

At this point the Japanese team secured at least two medals, and the large crowd was full of excitement.

In the semifinals, Satoya competed against younger teammate Miki Ito. She was defeated in this round, moving on to the consolation heat for third and fourth place against Hannah Kearney. If she won this match, the Japanese team would have phenomenally dominated the podium. But the winner of the World Cup showed her skills and overpowered Satoya, who finished fourth. She did not win a medal, but strongly appealed her comeback, and smiled to the crowd as they shouted “Good luck in Vancouver Tae!”

For men’s, Kai Ozaki was eliminated in the qualification, not being able to show a good performance. Osamu Ueno, who did not get through qualification yesterday and back for revenge, also made an unexpected mistake and did not proceed to the final rounds.

But veteran Yugo Tsukita showed a strong performance. He placed ninth in qualification to proceed to the final rounds. He continued to keep his flow through the final rounds, as he defeated Sho Kashima (USA) in the first round. He also had an exciting match in the quarterfinals with Alexandre Bilodeau (Canada), this season’s World Cup champion. They showed a great performance that both had the chance of winning, but the judges voted Bilodeau the winner by one point. The crowd sighed in disappointment, and he ended at seventh place. But the audience gave him a warm round of applause as the veteran showed his experienced skills once again.