WHISTLER, British Columbia — Ann Battelle didn't choose some insignificant competition to make her debut this season. After spending four months recovering from a shoulder injury and surgery, Battelle competed for the first time this season at the World Championships in Whistler, Canada.
She was, after all, the defending World Champion in women's moguls.
But while she's been recovering, the other women in her sport have been improving. She didn't fare too badly, taking into consideration what she had to overcome. She finished sixth in dual moguls Sunday, the highest of any of the American mogul skiers.
"I felt I skied well in singles," she said. "And today, although I didn't do that great, I felt good."
Her strategy going into Sunday's race was simple: "To win. That's always my plan," she said. "I didn't really have the fire feeling I had last year (at the World Championships). I didn't know how I was going to ski."
As it turned out, only Battelle and Jillan Vogtli skied well enough to make the finals.
"I was definitely disappointed by our results today," said Liz McIntyre, a former Olympian and now technical moguls coach. "We had some good moments of skiing, but no one put together an entire run."
Because dual moguls isn't an Olympic sport, most of the U.S. skiers said they didn't worry about the races as much.
"We haven't been concentrating on duals," McIntyre said. "But it is one of the most exciting shows in skiing."
In dual moguls, the skiers race each other, but they're also judged on form and jumps. So being fast is important, but not the most important. The winners keep working their way through the brackets of skiers, while the losers go into a consolation bracket.
Kari Traa, from Norway, won the dual competition just two days after winning the singles.
"I was actually more focused on the singles," she said after winning her second gold medal. "I knew I could do it, though."
The big surprise came in men's moguls. Mikko Ronkainen and Janne Lahtela, both from Finland are ranked No. 2 and No. 1 in the world, respectively. Ronkainen won the men's mogul competition on Friday after Lahtela fell during his run.
They had to ski against each other, and Lahtela won. Then he faced a virtually unknown skier in Stephane Yonnet from France. Not only did Yonnet beat Lahtela, but he went on to win the entire competition. He is ranked 29th in the world, and all of those who competed in the finals with him were ranked higher.
Speaking very broken English, he said simply, "I am very happy. It's a nice competition and a nice course. I'm so happy."
Patrik Sundberg, Sweden, placed second and Johann Gregoire took the bronze. For the women, after Traa, it was Corinne Bodmer, Switzerland, and Tami Bradley, Canada.
It was the first time Bradley's mother had seen her daughter on the podium.
The American skiers weren't entirely unhappy with their performances. Vogtli said the competition helped her work on her speed.
"My love is singles," she said. "But duals helps me to push it to another level. I felt great. I'm really happy with the way I skied. I brought it up a couple of notches."
None of the winners gets any prize money for their victories at the World Championship. At the other World Cup Events, the winners collect prize money in addition to their medals.
E-MAIL: adonaldson@desnews.com