Freestyle news: Bilodeau wins moguls, Canada's first gold!!!

Vancouver (AFP) - Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau won the men's moguls freestyle skiing title on Sunday, claiming the host nation's first gold medal of the Games and ending a long-running jinx.

Bilodeau scored 26.75 points with defending champion Dale Begg-Smith of Australia on 26.58. Bryon Wilson of the United States took bronze with 26.08 points.

The crowd celebrated wildly as Bilodeau, the World Cup title holder, was crowned champion, ending Canada's wait for gold in fine, dry conditions on the floodlit course -- and notching their first ever Olympic gold on home soil.

"I don't believe it yet. It's been a dream since I was a little kid and it's come true," he said, saying his brother watching from the stands, who has cerebral palsy, was his inspiration.

"I can't think. It's too good to be true. There are more golds to come for Canada. It's just the beginning of a good party in Canada."

Begg-Smith moved into the gold medal position with just Wilson, Bilodeau and France's Guilbaut Colas to go before the Canadian wowed the judges with his run.

Begg-Smith, who was born in Canada but now races for Australia, was surprisingly only fourth in qualifying and could not match Bilodeau's speed score but he stayed upbeat.

"I skied the way I wanted to ski and that's all I control. There were a lot of good runs today and it just depends on the day how you do so I'm obviously happy to ski the way I did," said Begg-Smith.

"I think it's great that Canada won gold and the crowd was really happy with it and everybody went crazy," added Begg-Smith, who leads the overall World Cup moguls standings.

Bilodeau's victory was not just Canada's first gold of the Games but also consigned to history their dubious honour of being the only country to host the Olympics twice -- Calgary 1988 Winter Games and Montreal 1976 Summer Games -- and not capture a gold.

The weather for the men's moguls at the troubled Mount Cypress course was in stark contrast from that for the women's competition on Saturday, which was held in in wet conditions.

Moguls is a judged event that also uses the objective measurement of time. Athletes ski down a steep slope covered in bumps or "moguls" and perform two different jumps.

Competitors only have one run in qualifying and one in the final.

Cypress, to the north of Vancouver, has been badly affected by the unseasonal, warm temperatures which prompted a round-the-clock operation to bring in snow from higher elevations to make the venue ready for the Games.

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