Elliott's First Career Win in Lac-Beauport Aerials

The Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes are on the road again in Lac-Beauport, Quebec, Canada, where Karenna Elliott earned her first World Cup win in Saturday’s World Cup event. 

Lac-Beauport is a new stop on the aerials World Cup circuit, but it holds a strong freestyle history and is the home of many Canadian team members as their training site. 

The weather on course was varied, with rain scattered throughout the afternoon, causing sticky snow conditions. The unpredictable weather and snow caused athletes to land further down the hill than they were used to, leading to overcorrections for many. 

The U.S. started the day strong, sending four women and two men into the finals. Kaila Kuhn and Connor Curran led the way for the U.S., qualifying in third and 10th, respectively. In only his sixth World Cup start, Curran competed a triple for the first time, completing a successful back full full full. 

Due to deteriorating conditions in finals, Elliott was the sole U.S. team member to make it to super finals. In the first super finals of her career, she made sure to make her team proud. First, Elliott completed her back full double full for the first time in competition, executing it beautifully. With this jump, she was able to follow up her first super finals by making her first podium, standing on the top box.

"[This] feels like an absolute dream. I had never made a super final round before, so all I wanted to do today was to land a nice jump and make the top 6. Then, after landing my jump, I knew I was in a good position, but after seeing the results come in, I lost it, realizing what had just happened. I cried after realizing I got my first podium and then balled my eyes out when I won," said Elliott. "That was only my ninth full double full on snow, and first one in competition, so to be able to land it was incredible! I actually did one in training the day before yesterday, and it didn’t go well, and I really hurt my knee. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to even jump today as our team doctors almost pulled me. But once I was in the final round, my coach and I decided that if I wanted a chance at a podium, then I would need the full double full and go down with a fight."

Just outside the super finals was Megan Smallhouse, who finished seventh, followed by Kaila Kuhn in ninth, Kyra Dossa in 11th, Winter Vinecki in 13th and Tasia Tanner in 14th. 

On the men’s side, Chris Lillis led the team, finishing seventh, and was joined by Connor Curran in the finals, who took eighth. Ashton Salwan landed in 23rd, Derek Krueger in 24th and Ian Schoenwald in 26th. 

The team is headed right into another aerials World Cup in Lac-Beauport on Saturday, Feb. 11. Women’s qualification begins at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by men's at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tune in to finals live tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. ET on skiandsnowboard.live. 

RESULTS
Women
Men