Olympics Men’s Aerials Finals medal results, highlights and more

Aerials competition closed over the weekend with the men’s final. Here’s how things played out in the freestyle event at Phoenix Park.

Oleksandr Abramenko claimed Olympic men’s gold to conclude aerials competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Ukrainian freestyle skier proved to be the best in a group that was nearly all trying to execute the same trick.

All of the top four finishers out of the six people in the medal round pulled out a Back Full-Full-Double Full. Abramenko had the best execution of the attempt, finishing four-tenths of a point ahead of China’s Jia Zongyang. Taking bronze was Ilia Burov, of the Olympic Athletes from Russia. Burov finished ahead of Russian teammate Pavel Krotov for the bronze.

The only deviations from this effort came from the lowest-ranked finishers in the round. Canada’s Olivier Rochon tried out a Back Lay-Triple Full-Full. Stanislau Hladchenko of Belarus went for the highest degree of difficulty, pulling out a Back Double Full-Double Full-Full. Neither was able to deviate from the norm cleanly, however, and had to settle for fifth and sixth, respectively.

MEDAL RESULT | Freestyle skiing men's aerials

Oleksandr Abramenko

Jia Zongyang

Ilia Burov

At least the duo made it to the medal round. The finals started with 12 competitors, who were winnowed down from a dozen to nine to six over the course of the first two finals rounds. For the first time since the inaugural aerials competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, there was no Belarusian skier in the final round.

For the first time since 2006, someone other than Belarus would win.

The first countries to drop out of the competition from the final dozen were Switzerland and Australia. Two Swiss aerials specialists finished 11th and 12th out of 12 on the first jump. David Morris finished six and a half points behind silver medalist Jia, who advanced as the ninth-best qualifier out of the first round.

But because points are not cumulative, Jia got a second chance in the second round. He qualified for the medal round as the top scorer on the second jump. Jia slotted in ahead of Rochon and Hladchenko. Despite three Chinese skiers making it to the final nine, Jia was the only one to qualify for a shot at the medals.

The two Olympic Athletes from Russia finished fifth and sixth, earning the last two spots in the medal hunt. Along with relegating Qi Guangpu and Liu Zhongqing to the sidelines, Burov and Krotov also ended the night for American Jonathon Lillis.

Then, everyone but Rochon and Hladchenko tried out their Back Full-Full-Double Full. Abramenko had the best one over the weekend, and he will return to Ukraine after the conclusion of Pyeongchang 2018 as an Olympic gold medalist as a result.

Next: What’s the difference between Ski Jumping & Freestyle Skiing?

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