Park City Aerials Nor Am Cup - A Special Tribute to Jeret "Speedy" Peterson
Top members of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team were soaring skyward at the Festival of Flight aerials show on Saturday, July 30 at the Utah Olympic Park . GB athletes Harry Gillam and Tim lever also competed. All of the athletes were jumping with special thoughts on their mind in tribute to their teammate Jeret "Speedy" Peterson, who died last week.
Speedy claimed the Utah Olympic Park as his home training base
for well over a decade, which helped him to achieve the highest of
successes - an Olympic silver medal at the Vancouver Winter Games
in 2010.
The event marked the first International Ski Federation (FIS)
competition of the season in North America and drew top competitors
like Emily Cook, Dylan Ferguson and Scotty Bahrke from the U.S. as
well as competitors from Great Britain, Australia, Canada and other
nations. Athletes dedicated this first competition of the 2011-12
season to Speedy.
The Festival of Flight was the first to utilize a new World Cup
scoring format - a bracket style aerials format. Athletes qualified
into the brackets, then went head-to-head on scores before making
it to the one-jump final with four athletes (men and women).Fans
worldwide were also able to watch a live webcast of this
competition, enjoying the action in the park. Harry and Tim
competed jumps full, lay full, lay tuck and full pike. The biggest
jump for the Ladies was from Emily Cook with bFdF and in the men's,
at the top the triples 'making it big' were bFdFF and
bdFFF.
Two-time Olympian Emily Cook and U.S. Champion Dylan Ferguson took the wins in Saturday's competition. In the men's Aerials event there were ten competitors; the top 4 places went to the top USSA team athletes; GB Athlete Harry Gillam's highest place in the heats was 5th and he was placed 7th overall in the finals, while team mate Tim lever's highest place in the heats was 7th and he was placed 8th overall in the finals - a great start at the season opener competing against some of the best aerialists in the USSA!
We would like to thank our team sponsors, Planet Knox and Whiterock; Harry extends thanks to personal sponsors Dale Boot (ski boots), Rivington Alpine and to Outdoor Traders.
