Heartbroken aerialists see medal slip away

Last Updated: Friday, February 26, 2010 | 4:46 AM ET

By Brandon Hicks, CBC Sports

Steve Omischl, left, and the rest of the Canadian men's aerials team were devastated after failing to win a medal in the final on Thursday. (David Hecker/AFP/Getty Images)

A gold medal was there for the taking.

Kyle Nissen of Calgary was the final freestyle aerialist left on the ski hill at Cypress Mountain, leading the Olympic competition before the second and final jump on Thursday.

The door was open. He needed 121.50 points to win gold, having already scored 126.92 on his first jump to take the lead.

But it didn't happen. Nissen's takeoff was shaky and his landing was worse. He couldn't keep his skis together in the air and didn't stick his landing, tumbling him down from his perch to fifth spot.

Only one word could describe how the Canadian finalists felt after none of them hit the podium.

Devastated.

"We're hurting right now, that's for sure," said teammate Warren Shouldice, also from Calgary.

It was supposed to be so different this time around. A disastrous Torino 2006 Olympics saw the Canadian medal contenders fail to reach the podium.

In front of the raucous home crowd at Cypress on Thursday, three Canadians stormed into the final, bent on better fortune.

But thoughts of a podium finish went up in smoke for two of the three Canucks after the first jump.

Hard road

First, Shouldice, who had battled two lifetimes of adversity to even get into this position.

Eight years ago, Shouldice (then an 18-year-old) crashed at a water ramp show in Lake Placid, N.Y. He broke his neck, and has screws and plates permanently inserted to stabilize the area as a constant reminder of how close he was to paralysis.

Then last year, Shouldice fell forward and landed hard after a jump in Mont-Gabriel, Que. It knocked him out for 15 minutes and he suffered a severe concussion and compression fracture in his back.

But he was competing a month later and took bronze in the world championships.

On his first jump in the final at Cypress, the 26-year-old bounced hard on his back during the landing. He was OK, but his score of 94.03 sent him spiralling out of medal contention.

With nothing to lose, Shouldice gave the crowd something to cheer about in his final attempt, landing a five-twist jump for the highest score of the last round (129.27).

"I'm glad I did [the jump], because it was one of the better ones I've ever done," said Shouldice. "It's nice to stick that second one and at least leave on a good note."

Next, Steve Omischl. The 31-year-old is one of the top competitors on the World Cup circuit but has had nothing but disappointment at the Olympics.

In 2002, he was a young upstart in his first Games, and placed an impressive 11th. Though he was the 2005 world champ, a foot injury set him back training-wise and he stumbled at the Torino Games the following year.

Rough landing

There was nothing to hold him back in 2010. He was the overall World Cup champion in 2008, won at Cypress in an event in 2009, and was healthy entering the Vancouver Games.

But he still couldn't find his way, scoring only 112.39 on his first jump to put him ninth.

"I was deep on landing, and these guys are so good that if you don't stick it cleanly, it's over," said Omischl, who grew up in North Bay, Ont.

"I've always talked about the fact that the only thing I can control is my takeoff, and I hit both my takeoffs. And that sucks that it came down to a deep landing for me, and that took me out of it."

So Canadian medal hopes were put on the unheralded Nissen, who surprised everybody by jumping to a six-point lead atop the standings at 126.92. Nissen, 30, has all of one World Cup title in his career.

Yet there he stood at the top of the hill as the final jumper left in the competition, staring down Alexei Grishin's 248.41 combined score for the gold medal, with Omischl, Shouldice and a frenzied Canadian crowd trying to will him to victory.

You know the rest.

"I thought I would be standing on the podium," said Nissen. "I'm really disappointed I couldn't give these guys a better show."

Grishin won gold, Jeret Peterson of the U.S. took silver and Liu Zhongqing of China nabbed bronze. Nissen was fifth, Omischl eighth and Shouldice 10th.

Belarus and China were the other two countries with three competitors in the final, and both won a medal.

Shut out

Canada was shut out, and nobody was more heartbroken about it than the three competitors who had a chance to give Canada its ninth gold of the Games.

All three looked the same afterward: dazed, shocked and devastated as they all stared into space, speaking with hesitance and trying to hold back tears while they did media interviews later on.

Omischl has seen his Olympic career come to a close, admitting he can't take the physical toll of the sport for more than another World Cup season or two. Same goes for Nissen, who said he might have one more season left in him.

But for the younger Shouldice? He's not even thinking about the coming morning, let alone the 2014 Games.

"To be honest, I've never ever thought past Feb. 25, 2010," Shouldice said. "And tomorrow's going to be Feb. 26, so I don't know what's going to happen."