MOSCOW — Canada’s Travis Gerrits and Olivier Rochon narrowly missed the World Cup podium in aerials freestyle skiing Saturday.
Gerrits, from Milton, Ont., was fourth, while Montreal’s Rochon finished fifth.
"I felt like I was getting better and better with each training jump and landing here," Gerrits said. "I’m definitely stepping in the right direction here this week. I’m super stoked now that I’m jumping the way that I know I can."
American Mac Bohonnon won the gold with 123.08 points, pulling off a back double full-full-full jump in the final for his second career World Cup win. Russian Ilya Burov was second (122.62), while Maxim Gustik of Belarus finished third (120.36).
Gerrits scored 118.55 on his final jump.
"He was fourth today and he can jump even better than that," said Canada’s aerials coach Dennis Capicik. "This is why I’ve always believed in Travis so much. I know what he’s capable of."
Rochon finished with 105.43.
Bohonnon and Danielle Scott of Australia moved into contention for the aerials overall title with their respective victories.
The win left Bohonnon 29 points behind standings leader and world champion Qi Guangpu of China, who did not compete in Moscow, ahead of the final round of the season in Minsk, Belarus, on March 1.
In the women’s event, Scott’s first career World Cup win moved her to second in the standings.
Scott achieved a back double full-full to beat Ashley Caldwell of the U.S.
World Cup leader Kiley McKinnon of the U.S. was third, and extended her overall standings lead to 63 points.
That means that sixth place in Minsk will be enough for McKinnon to become the first U.S. woman to win the overall aerials title since 1998.
Australia’s Laura Peel, who won the world championship last month, scored highest in each of the first two rounds in Moscow but finished sixth after a poor final jump.