By Kirill Donskoy
A new system of competition in freestyle jumping has been launched this season, with medals divided into three rounds. Based on qualification results, Anton Kushnir came eighth, ten points behind Canadian Olivier Rochon. Among the 12 finalists was also Belarusian Maxim Gustik, placed twelfth. At the second stage, Kushnir was second and Gustik was placed sixth.
In the super-finals, the best four struggled for medals. China’s Jia Zongyang took gold (128.51), followed by another Chinese athlete, Liu Zhongqing (127.83). Anton Kushnir (126.47) claimed bronze and Olivier Rochon closed the top four (109.38).
Other two Belarusians finished their performance after the qualification stage. Denis Osipov came 14th (106.67), while two-time Olympic medallist (1998 — bronze, 2006 — silver) Dmitry Dashchinsky (69.92) finished a disappointing 30th among 32 participants.
Among the women, the only Belarusian was Anna Guskova, 19, who finished 16th (52.34), among 18 athletes. The top three comprised China’s Xu Mengtao (93.06), Cheng Shuang (85.65), and Fanyu Kong (81.20).
