Your inbox approves Best MLB parks ranked 🏈's best, via 📧 NFL draft hub
OLYMPICS
Sochi

Cancellation gives Hannah Kearney World Cup moguls title

USATODAY
Gold medallist US skier Hannah Kearney kisses her trophy on the podium of the Ladies' overall Dual Moguls competition during the Snowboard and FreeStyle World Cup at Sierra Nevada ski resort near Granada
  • Fog and wind force race to cancelled
  • Kearney comes back after training crash
  • U.S. athlete now most decorated World Cup skier in history
  • Sochi Olympics will be the last for Kearney

The conditions in Sierra Nevada, Spain on Friday were a lot like Hannah Kearney's turbulent season. After three hours of delays due to fog and wind, officials cancelled the race and the qualification results stood giving Kearney her fourth World Cup moguls title.

"I'm running on adrenaline right now," Kearney said Friday.

Though the 2010 Olympic champion from Norwich, Vt. now has four crystal globes, Kearney said winning this title was more emotional because she had to "go through a little bit more to get it."

Actually, a lot more. In an October crash during training, she suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerated liver and was off skis for three months. Kearney hadn't missed a competition since 2008, so watching her teammates ski as she stayed home to rehab was torture, she said. That's when she knew she was still motivated to compete at such a high level.

"This globe means a lot to me," she said after the race. "It's my fourth globe but I've never fought as hard for anything as I did for this globe. Showing up in January after missing events, I didn't know if it would be possible and I didn't help myself when I missed finals in a few events. It was nerve wracking all season passing that yellow bib back and forth. I didn't have any extra padding coming into (Friday's race) and with the weather, it was just another variable to add to the nerves."

Earlier this month she became the third woman in history to win two World Championships in moguls. With the win, Kearney became the most decorated world cup skier in history - across all disciplines - after earning 16 consecutive victories during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Heading into the 2014 Sochi Games, Kearney, 27, said her third Olympics will also be her last.

Featured Weekly Ad