Marion Thenault wins the FIS World Cup aerials finale for the 2023-24 season in Almaty, Kazakhstan (Andrey Kulagin)By Andrey Kulagin
By Andrey Kulagin

Marion Thénault ends aerials World Cup season with gold

Team Canada’s Marion Thénault secured gold in the women’s aerials competition on Sunday. Almaty’s Shymbulak Ski Resort was the stage for the season’s final aerials World Cup event.

Due to low visibility, the finals were cancelled and qualification results stood as the final results on Sunday. Thénault posted a score of 94.11 points to capture the gold medal in the women’s competition. Australian Danielle Scott took second place with 87.25 points and China’s Kong Fanyu rounded out the podium with a score of 82.21 points.

With this result, the Canadian propelled into third place in the overall World Cup standings. Scott secured the Crystal Globe and American Winter Vinecki finished second overall.

This is the fourth career victory for the Quebec native and third podium of the season. At the first Freestyle Skiing World Cup event in Finland in December, she landed atop the podium with gold. In February, Thénault returned to the podium with bronze on home snow in Lac-Beauport, Quebec.

On the men’s side, three Canadians finished in the top 10. Lewis Irving was 8th with a score of 106.79, Pierre-Olivier Côté finished in 9th position with 102.87 points and Émile Nadeau was 10th scoring 100.90 points. Alexandre Duchaine finished 11th overall with 98.41 points.

Action at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup wrapped on Sunday on the slopes in Kazakhstan, as athletes focused on the final battles for the coveted crystal globes. This weekend also marked the fifth edition of the World Cup in Almaty.