PARK CITY, Utah -- Ryan St. Onge knew he had won his second World Cup freestyle event long before he saw the aerial judges' scores.
St. Onge, who had never won a World Cup event before this season, completed a triple-twisting triple back flip and nailed the landing to overcome American teammate Joe Pack in men's aerials Friday night.
St. Onge led Pack by 4.9 points after completing a triple somersault with four twists in qualifying. St. Onge got perfect 3.0 scores from both landing judges on his first jump.
He and Pack had the same jump in the finals and were the last two to go in the reverse qualifying order. Pack was good in the air, but slipped a little on the landing and left it wide open for St. Onge - who was just about perfect on the second landing.
"I couldn't believe it. I stuck two jumps in a row," St. Onge said. "The crowd went crazy. I could hear them as soon as my feet touched."
St. Onge, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., didn't wait for the final scores to start celebrating. He threw off his helmet, then flopped back in the snow before getting up for a hug from Pack. St. Onge then vaulted the snow fence and started hugging members of the crowd.
Pack, the Park City native and Olympic silver medalist three years ago at the same site at Deer Valley, knew St. Onge was likely going to pass him.
"I had a good one going. Just a little skate out on the landing," Pack said. "I knew it was going to be a good score, but I didn't think it was going to be a top score."
St. Onge won his first World Cup event earlier this month in an American sweep at Mont Tremblant in Canada. He finished with a career-best 253.05 points. Pack was second with 242.27, followed by Steve Omischl of Canada (240.29).
China's Nina Li won the women's aerials and moved into a tie for the World Cup lead with the victory.
Li trailed Australia's Lydia Ierodiaconou for the aerial points lead entering the competition.
Li, who hit a double back flip with three twists to take the lead on the second-to-last jump with a total score of 191.16. Li won it when Manuela Mueller fell backward on her landing.
Canada's Veronika Bauer did the same jump as Li and placed second, followed by Ierodiaconou, who did her first triple flip in competition in the finals and placed third. Ierodiaconou wore the yellow bib as the aerials leader and by the end of the night Li had one as well.
"Going from doubles to triples is quite a massive step," Ierodiaconou said. "I was willing to sacrifice my yellow bib today to get some experience at doing triples and that's exactly what we achieved today. And I was third as well, so it's fantastic."
American Jeret Peterson held on to the overall men's lead with 434 points despite not qualifying for the finals Friday. St. Onge moved up to second with 331 points and Canada's Warren Shouldice was third (313).
