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All 4 U.S. men advance to today's aerials final
By Amy Donaldson Deseret News Olympic specialist
PARK CITY — The disappointment of the morning dissipated for USA fans like the clouds burning off after a storm.
Sunshine was all anyone could see Saturday after all four American men qualified for Tuesday's aerials final at Deer Valley despite neither of the team's women making the cut.
The hometown hero, Joe Pack, appeared to have shaken off this season's slump. The defending gold medalist, Eric Bergoust, looked poised for a repeat. Wildcard Brian Currutt avoided being discarded. And the kid, Jeret Peterson — well, just one word sums up how he performed in his first Olympic event: Wow!
For the first half of the men's aerial qualification Saturday, it looked like the finals. Conservative jumping, hoping to make the cut, that came later. For the first hour, every male aerialist looked desperate, confident and fearless.
There was just one women who did, as aerialists like to say, "Go big, or go home," and that was Switzerland's Evelyn Leu. She was the only woman to land a triple flip, something she did when she won on the same course a year ago on the World Cup Tour.
Her efforts were rewarded with a world record of 203.16 and a first-place finish. The top 12 women will compete for medals Monday at noon.
Most of the other 21 women jumped conservatively, hoping just to make the top 12 and a trip to Monday's finals. American Tracy Evans did attempt a triple but couldn't hold onto the landing and finished 14th. She competed with a bandage on her chin after hitting it in practice and getting six stitches.
"I'm retired," she said. Evans was making her third appearance in the Olympic Games, and said she attempted a triple on her second jump because she had nothing to lose. She regretted only coming so close to making the cut.
"I'd rather be dead last," she said with a smile.
Her male teammates, however, didn't have to worry about consoling anyone. They qualified with Bergoust in second, Pack in third, Peterson in seventh and Currutt in 10th. Currutt was the skier coaches felt was a "wildcard" as he's had some great competitions and some in which he didn't even make the finals.
"We're psyched," Currutt said. "We have a great opportunity to win some medals . . . It's just a game of sheer numbers now. It'll be great having everybody in the finals."
All of the other men will do the same or similar jumps in Tuesday's finals except Currutt.
"I'm going to bust out some harder tricks," he said. "I'm just going to go for it. I have nothing to lose."
Bergoust felt good about his finish but was disappointed with his second jump.
"I was really happy with my first jump," Bergoust said. "It was exactly what I wanted to do."
Pack said everyone kept welcoming him back after a disappointing season that left even his appearance at these Games in doubt.
"Just making the team was the biggest hurdle for me this season," he said as his family and friends cheered in the background. "It's been a weird year, but you just have to keep persevering when things aren't going right."
And Peterson, the 20-year-old Idaho kid who just keeps pinching himself, couldn't stop smiling as he made his way through the media. Alexei Grichin from Belarus finished first. "I'm just concentrating, and I want to win the gold," said Grichin, who is ranked no. 2 in the world behind Bergoust. "I'm not going to worry about what others are doing; I'm going to work hard to get my medal."
The Czech Republic's Alex Valenta qualified No. 8 and said he wasn't going to decide whether to do five twists, which no other man will attempt, until Tuesday. What he does may affect the tricks some of the other competitors choose. No matter what Valenta decides, Bergoust will stick with what got him told in Nagano.
"I wanted to do the quad twist with good form," he said. "I'm glad I'm not doing five twists.
E-MAIL: adonaldson@desnews.com
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February 17, 2002
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