Aaron Blunck competes at the U.S. Grand Prix on Dec. 13, 2019 in Copper Mountain, Colo.
Two-time Olympian Aaron Blunck led another American charge on the halfpipe skiing world cup podium Saturday in China.
Scoring 90.75 on his third run with a series of perfectly executed double cork tricks, Blunck captured second place at the halfpipe venue in Secret Garden, China, that will be used in the Olympic Games Beijing 2022.
American skiers captured two of the three podium spots for the third consecutive time this season.
Blunck, the reigning world champion, led a two-three-four-five-six American finish in the men’s finals, which featured seven Americans among the 10 finalists. Lyman Currier finished third with a score of 89.75 on his second run.
Blunck and Currier finished behind Canada’s Noah Bowman, who scored 91.50 on his second run to win the competition.
Blunck has reached the podium in all three world cup stops this season, finishing first, second and third. He won last week’s U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado, and grabbed the season lead in the world cup standings.
Currier scored his first world cup podium finish since 2016 and was making a charge for the top spot on his final run but fell on his third trick.
Finishing behind Currier were Youth Olympic Games champion Birk Irving in fourth (top score of 87.00), Jaxin Hoerter in fifth (81.50) and Taylor Seaton in sixth (79.00).
Devin Logan, a two-time Olympian, finished sixth in the women’s finals. She had runs of 66.00, 61.50 and 57.75 for her second consecutive sixth-place finish in the world cup.
The snowboarding halfpipe finals are Sunday in China (10 p.m. ET Saturday start). Maddie Mastro, a 2018 Olympian who finished third last week at Copper Mountain, is in the women’s finals. Chase Blackwell and Ryan Wachendorfer are in the men’s finals.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
