In this file photo Canadian Olivier Rochon of Gatineau, Que. jumps to a silver medal at the men's aerials World Cup freestyle event Sunday, January 15, 2012 at Mont-Gabriel in Sainte-Adele Que. Rochon won bronze during Saturday's aerials race in China. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques BoissinotThe Canadian Press
Some of Canada's World Cup freestyle ski stars in the moguls and aerials will get their first look at the Olympic venues in Sochi, Russia this week, as they step down to the second-tier Europa Cup for sneak peek of what to expect for 2014.
"Part of our strategy heading into Olympic Games, or even world championships, is to give our athletes every opportunity possible to become acclimatized to the physical and social environments of upcoming event locations, including the sights, smells and tastes," said Canada Freestyle CEO Peter Judge of the dry run.
The Sochi Europa Cup for aerials is on March 4; moguls is March 5.
The halfpipe skiers and slopestyle skiers – slopestyle will have an Olympic medal event for the first time in Sochi – will compete in a test event at Sochi next year. They are at a World Cup in Mammoth, Calif., this week.
The national moguls and aerials team normally limits itself to FIS World Cup level competitions, a statement from the national freestyle body said, but skiers wanted this opportunity to check out the 2014 Olympic courses.
"In the case of Sochi, the Europa Cup allows the team to get a sensory assimilation of the Russian venue and culture. Familiarity and comfort are key to good performance. We experienced that with the home field advantage in Vancouver and that's what we're aiming for in Russia," Judge said.
He said both Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee endorsed the move.
Among the Canadians Canadian athletes attending the Sochi Europa Cup are aerialist Olivier Rochon of Gatineau, Que., who was fourth in last week's World Cup in Minsk, Belarus and Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City, who won a moguls gold this month at Naaeba, Japan, ending the 16-event win streak of American Hannah Kearney.
Canadians going to Sochi in moguls are: Robichaud; Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal; Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City; Chloé Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal; Maxime Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal; Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C.,; Alex Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que; Mikael Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que; Philippe Marquis of Quebec City and Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que. Two aerialists going are Rochon and Jean-Christophe Andre of Montreal.