FIS Freestyle World Championshios INAWASHIRO 2009

Aiko Uemura is the heroine once again for dual moguls qualification/finals on the last day of championships.

Uemura qualified in first place with over a two point lead over second place and under, and proceeded to face Hannah Kearney (USA), first in the World Cup ranking, in the semifinals. Although Uemura made a miss of her own, Kearney was the one to make a big mistake first under the great amount of pressure. She conquered what was virtually the finals competition. Her competitor in the finals was teammate Miki Ito. Uemura is known for her speed, and Ito for her graceful skiing, but the queen overpowered the younger athlete and did not allow her to catch up.

Uemura has now won two gold medals including yesterday’s medal in moguls. In addition, she came first in all of the qualification rounds, claiming total victory at the World Championships.

It was also a joyous podium for Ito. She won the silver medal after competing in a dream match with Uemura at the finals, and the Japanese team had a one-two finish. She showed tears in her eyes at the flower ceremony.

The Japanese team also got the crowd excited for the men’s competition. Nobuyuki Nishi proceeded to the final rounds, winning against yesterday’s moguls gold medalist Patrick Deneen (USA). He was defeated at the finals, but stood second on the podium. He won the third medal following the ladies’ for the Japanese team. Men’s gold medalist was Alexandre Bilodeau (Canada). The World Cup champion who did not perform his best at yesterday’s moguls, steadily made it up through the tough race and won his first World Championship title.