WEST VANCOUVER — Alexei Grishin landed two clean jumps in the men’s aerials to help Belarus win its first gold medal of the Vancouver Games.
America’s Jeret “Speedy” Peterson won the silver on the strength of his patented “Hurricane” jump, and Liu Zhongqing of China took bronze.
Peterson, a 28-year-old from Boise, Idaho, took a chance nobody else in the sport will take — wrapping five twists into three somersaults.
Grishin scored 248.41 total points to beat Peterson by 1.2 and add the gold to the bronze he won in 2002. Peterson’s score for his signature jump, 128.62 was the highest awarded for any of the 24 jumps over the sugary, wet snow at Cypress. But his total — 247.21 — was 1.2 short of Grishin, who was judged to be a bit more technically precise, if not quite as daring.
Reigning world champion Ryan St. Onge of Winter Park finished fourth.
