Kelowna, B.C. aerialist Steve Omischl’s goal of winning half of his World Cup starts this season is looking good. He won his second freestyle ski World Cup in three starts with a very solid 243.47 points. His score in the night final left Anton Kushnir of Belarus second with 239.55 points and 2006 Olympic champion Xiaopeng Han of China third in 236.60.

Steve Omischl

In winning the 14th World Cup of his career, Omischl said it wasn’t a spectacular performance, but certainly a solid one, given the windy, snowy conditions that he says played havoc with some jumpers. “I don’t think I jumped my best, but I jumped pretty damn well,” said Omischl, 29.

Omischl, whose hometown is North Bay, Ont., led after the late afternoon qualifier with a quad-twisting triple somersault that scored 123.23 points to leave him three points ahead of Han, while Kushnir was back in fifth. True to his regular approach, Omischl continued to ignore other jumpers’ scores in the competition. He keeps his headphones on to purposely block out others’ scores while focusing on his own performance. “They shouldn’t affect what I do and vice-versa,” he explained.

The other Canadian men’s finalist was Warren Shouldice of Calgary. He was third after the first round, but slapped back on his second jump to finish 11th of 12 finalists.

Jacqui Cooper of Australia did what few women do, scoring more than 100 points in each of her two jumps, to convincingly win the women’s aerials final. She scored 213.95 points to leave Xinxin Guo of China second in 198.21. Evelyne Leu of Switzerland was third.

2002 Olympic bronze medallist Deidra Dionne, 25, of Red Deer, Alta., finished sixth in her first World Cup of the season after qualifying ninth for the final. She scored 151.49, less than her goal of 160.

“I was pretty comfortable. I actually enjoyed myself,” said Dionne, whose last competition was the 2006 Olympics at which she placed a disappointing 22nd. She then took last season off to strengthen her neck and back following a late 2005 neck injury that required surgery.

“To be in that competitive atmosphere again was really exciting, but I was nervous, for sure,” said Dionne.

“It was a really good start, but I’m doing easier tricks this year, to make sure I’m ready to compete in 2010 (at the Olympics). I won’t be going for podiums every week, but will be working to make sure my mind frame is in the right place.”

The other Canadian women were Veronika Bauer of Toronto in 15th and Amber Peterson of Thunder Bay, Ont., in 16th.

The World Cup resumes with dual moguls Sunday.

See pre and post competition videos at http://freestyleski.com/videos/index.htm