Vinecki finds form to win Lac-Beauport, Kotovskyi continues fine run
Jan 06, 2026·Freestyle
For Winter Vinecki (USA), the best time of the season somehow always seems to arrive in Lac-Beauport.
Two years after her last World Cup win, the American rediscovered fine form to put herself at the top of the podium again, ahead of an elite field in the Women’s Aerials.
She scored 93.58 points with a back full-full-full in the superfinal, finishing ahead of Marion Thenault (CAN), who took a podium spot on home snow with 81.78 points. Germany’s Emma Weiss (GER) completed the top three with a 79.33-effort, taking her second career World Cup podium.
After a bumpy start to the season, Vinecki was more than glad with victory at the season’s penultimate stop, where a raucous home crowd showed up in numbers to support the skiers.
“This is so special,” said the 27-year-old. “So exciting having all these kids cheering us on.
“It’s an amazing feeling being back on top of the podium, especially after coming off an injury last season.
“I took a pretty hard crash in Ruka at the first comp, and it didn’t go my way the second time (in Secret Garden)."
For the first time since the start of the season, no Chinese athlete featured on the women’s podium.
Reigning Olympic champion Xu Mengtao (CHN) and teammate Chen Meiting (CHN) both came unstuck on their landings and finished fifth and sixth in the superfinal.
Xu still leads the Cup standings (200 points), ahead of Chen (185 points), with Thenault now up to third spot (160 points).
In the men’s field, big risks yielded high rewards for Dmytro Kotovskyi (UKR), whose high-scoring back full-triple-full-full led to the top score of 131.56 points.
He finished ahead of Sun Jiaxu (CHN), who took second place with 125.97 points, with Quinn Dehlinger (USA) third in 123.53 points.
It marks the Ukrainian’s first win of the World Cup season, and comes after he had finished second and third at the same venue in the 2022/23 season.
He said: “I’m glad that I won today with the Hurricane. I was nervous almost every time, but I’m training to calm down in the moment. I don’t know if you can see it on my face, but I’m really happy now.”
With his latest stellar showing, Kotovskyi now leads the men’s Cup standings (186 points), knocking Li Tianma (CHN) off the top (161 points). Dehlinger is up to third (155 points).
Competition continues on 7 January for a second Aerials event. Women’s Qualifications will also start at 08:45 on Wednesday, followed by Men’s Qualifications at 11:15. Finals will then also commence at 13:30.
QUICK LINKS
Lac-Beauport World Cup FIS data page (start lists, results, etc)
