June 21, 2012 - 6:07 PM
VANCOUVER - Three-time Olympic aerialist Steve Omischl will join the Canadian freestyle ski team as an air mogul coach.
The 33-year-old from North Bay, Ont., will work with athletes, including current World Cup champion Mikael Kingsbury, on acrobatic skills.
Omischl competed in the freestyle discipline of aerials. He won the world championship in 2005 and four overall World Cup titles in 2004 and from 2007 to 2008.
He retired after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.
In moguls, two mandatory jumps on the course count for 25 per cent of the total score, which makes jumping technique important.
"Steve is a winner, and he knows how to train like a winner," Kingsbury said in a statement released Thursday by the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. "The two of us had an instant connection."
Omischl coached Australia's aerials team last season. He starts working with the Canadians on July 1.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012