The Associated Press
Joe Pack of the United States takes to the air on his way to a silver medal in Tuesday's aerial freestyle competition.

Pack grabs silver as Bergoust falls to last

GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

Originally published Wednesday, February 20, 2002

PARK CITY, Utah -- The Olympic men's aerials were punctuated with drama and disaster Tuesday.

Ales Valenta of Czechoslovakia made history with a never- before-done jump, and Eric Bergoust of the United States crashed on his final attempt.

Valenta won the gold medal with a combined score of 257.02 points, wowing a capacity crowd at Deer Valley Resort with a jump that included five twists, a first in Olympic competition.

The 29-year-old soared more than 50 feet in the air and did a double twist on his first somersault, a double twist on his second somersault, and a single twist on his third somersault.

American Joe Pack, a surprising silver medalist with a score of 251.64, said Valenta deserved more credit than he was giving himself.

"He's psycho!" Pack said. "Ales made it look really easy. He's ahead of his time."

Bergoust had a similar impact on the sport four years ago when he won the gold medal at the Nagano Games. He was in position to defend his Olympic title after recording the highest score in the first round of jumps, which meant he would be the final aerialist to compete in the second round.

His quadruple-twisting maneuver appeared without flaw, but he was out of control on his landing and his back crashed into the mountain slope.

"My heart sunk when I saw him slap back like that," Pack said. "He's Mr. Consistency, and this is uncharacteristic of him."

The crowd moaned in disbelief when Bergoust failed to complete his landing. Bergoust put his head down and his hands on his knees while waiting to see his score. He would finish with 218.49 points, 12th out of 12 competitors.

"I was just too big too fast," Bergoust said, confirming that he wasn't about to go conservative and settle for just any medal. "I didn't want to get second today. I wanted to get first or last, and I got last."

His fellow competitors were just as shocked at the outcome.

"I was wishing for Eric to do two good jumps," Valenta said. "I was surprised that he couldn't land it, and sorry for him."

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