‘94 WINTER LILLEHAMMER OLYMPICS : AERIAL SKIING : While U.S. Men Go Up, Women Come Down

Aerial skiing is as American as the Fourth of July, so probably it should come as no surprise that all three American men entered made the field of 12 for Thursday’s finals in Monday’s elimination round.

But surprising it is, because only two of the U.S. skiers, Trace Worthington--the favorite--and Kris Fedderson, were considered strong bets. Eric Bergoust was given only an outside chance. A chance is a chance, though, and he made the most of his, picking off the last spot in the field by 1.56 points.

The American women were equally surprising, but for a different reason. Tracy Evans, who had competed in the morning with the B group, qualified eighth. But neither of the leading lights, Nikki Stone and Kristean Porter, made it. Stone, the leader after the first jump, botched the landing on her second and fell to 13th, missing the finals by one position. Porter landed face-first on her second jump, cutting her chin and nose, and finished a distant 20th.

Aerial skiing is making its debut as a medal sport here. The competitive outgrowth of old-time hotdog skiing, it combines elements of gymnastics and diving, the skier launching high into the air off a steep snow ramp and performing somersaults, flips and twists while in the air. Judges assess the takeoff, height, distance, execution and landing.

Worthington, known as Trace the Ace, aced his first jump, a triple flip with four twists, then nearly sat down on the landing of his second, a double flip with three twists, and finished behind surprising leader Alexei Parfenkov of Belarus and Canadians Philippe LaRoche and Lloyd Langlois.

Two skiers seen as strong contenders, Christian Rijavec of Austria and Sebastian Foucras of France, failed to qualify.

“I’m happy,” Worthington said. “I’ve had bad practices the last few days and I was kind of worried this morning. But I did the hard jump first and I nailed it. That meant all I had to do was something halfway decent on the second and I’d make the finals.

“I’ll do the same jumps Thursday, but I’ll do ‘em better.”

Worthington said he had no problem with qualifying fourth. The scores don’t carry over into the finals.

“It’s not such a great thing to be sitting first going into the finals,” he said. “There is some pressure there. I like where I’m sitting.”

Bergoust was excited about qualifying.

“I cut it close today,” he said. “It’s been my dream, ever since I saw the sport, to just compete. To make the Olympic finals is fantastic.”

Australian Kirstie Marshall, with two solid jumps, is the surprise leader among the women. She moved ahead on her second jump, then stayed there when Stone fell after a shaky landing. Hilde Synnove Lid of Norway, the Group B leader, is second and Marie Lindgren of Sweden third.

“I crashed,” Stone said. “I had too much speed and I crashed on my landing. I’m disappointed it was after my second jump, but it’s my first Olympics and I’m just trying to have fun here. I’ll be back.”