Kearney outshines Heil in Vancouver 2010 moguls qualifying

From Sportsbeat staff, in Cypress Mountain

 THE USA'S Hannah Kearney banished her Turin 2006 demons to lay down a formidable marker in freestyle skiing moguls qualification, edging out home favourite Jennifer Heil in Cypress Mountain.

IN THE LEAD: All eyes are on Jennifer Heil at Cypress Mountain but the USA's Hannah Kearney was the most impressive in qualification (Getty Images)

Kearney, the 2005 world champion, arrived in Turin as hot favourite but fluffed her lines in the qualification round and failed to reach the final.

Instead gold went to Heil, who, if successful in defending her crown will almost certainly become the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold on home soil - provided the winner of the men's 1500m short track event is not also from Canada.

But while Heil stormed into the lead with an impressive performance in the wind and rain in Cypress Mountain, accruing 25.50 points, she was outshone by Kearney, who collected 25.96 points.

"I'm half-Canadian so I pretended that the Canadian cheers were also for me," said Kearney.

"I felt I was going very fast, but I made a small mistake on my helicopter jump, I bent my knee."

Heil, meanwhile, was happy enough with her run and remains confident of collecting a second gold medal.

"It's so amazing, being at the Olympics in Canada. All my friends and family are here. I'm just setting the pace for the final," she said.
 
"It's all about setting the pace. We've been skiing in the rain for a few days now, so I'm used to it and getting ready for the final."

The competition was dominated by North Americans and the top four qualifiers were either from the USA or Canada.

In third place was the USA's Heather McPhie, while Kristi Richards of Canada came fourth and Japan's Aiko Uemura fifth.

Ekaterina Stolyarova of Russia was eighth, while Great Britain's Ellie Koyander, 18, just missed out on a place in the final.

Koyander collected 18.98 points after a stumble after her first jump, and had to settle for 24th place.

"It was absolutely amazing. I'm having such a great time. I worked hard to be here and I'm just happy I made it to the bottom," said Koyander.

"I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life."

 AS IT HAPPENS: Day two of the 2010 WInter Olympics in Vancouver