Deneen Takes Moguls Gold at Worlds
The U.S. Ski Team's Pat Deneen (Cle Elum, WA) took the competition by storm Saturday, winning the gold medal in moguls at the 2009 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships in Japan.
"This is incredible. It really hasn't set in yet, but just to know that I have that now is a great feeling. I don't even know how to put it into words. I just can't believe it's mine," Deneen said. "It's been a really long and tough season so far, so to have this win feels really good. To come out with a World Championship win is the most incredible thing."
Deneen was closely followed in the men's competition by teammate Sho Kashima (South Lake Tahoe, CA) who finished sixth. In the women's moguls, Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) headed up the list for the U.S., finishing sixth.
On top of having the fastest time down the course, Deneen stuck a Back X, a trick he only learned four days ago, off the top jump. He then landed a D Spin off the bottom jump after struggling with the maneuver for the past few weeks.
Deneen said his ability to perform his air packages so well came from added effort away from the competition trail.
"I went home, worked on it and came back here and everything worked," Deneen said. "I had a really tough training day yesterday and same with this morning, but everything just went together for my finals run. It's pretty amazing.
"This is the toughest moguls course in the world. It was some tough skiing out there today and I had my only top to bottom runs in the actual competition."
According to Deneen, who has yet to win a competition at the World Cup level, trouble with his skiing earlier in the season left him unsure of where he would end up in Saturday's competition, but the end result is unbeatable.
"I had such a tough time earlier this season," Deneen said. "I had about four events where I crashed in every one of them, so to come out and finally stick two runs in a row, and with those two runs win, is awesome.
For U.S. Moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles, Deneen's performance Saturday was a perfect illustration of his athletic abilities.
"He really stepped up and put it together today. I think he had high expectations coming into this year, but he definitely showed everyone what he could do today," Rawles said. "It's very gratifying to see someone who has worked so hard and put so much time into his sport, to put together the performance he did today and end up on top of the podium at World Championships."
The moguls squad competes once more at World Championships on Sunday during the dual moguls event before the 2009 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships concludes.
"We're really looking forward to dual moguls tomorrow. I think it's going to be a good event," Rawles said.
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