Jonny Moseley said the idea of competing on the World Cup Tour after he won a gold medal in mogul skiing in Japan in 1998 made him sick.
"I couldn't even imagine it," he said. "Around 1998, there was a revolution in skiing that I felt I really wanted to get involved in . . . I decided to do what I wanted instead of always being involved in an Olympic program."
So he spent two years doing films, free skiing and competing in the X Games where almost anything goes. It was there he developed an usual trick he calls the "dinner roll" ? which has the skier's body horizontal to the snow and spinning in two complete circles (720s).
Moseley won second place in two extreme-sport competitions with the move, but when he tried it during the Gold Cup on New Year's Eve and on the World Cup Tour, the judges seemed more confused than awed.
He competed with standard stunts to qualify for the freestyle team, but he'll unleash the dinner roll at Deer Valley once again when he defends his gold medal today in front of an expected 17,000 fans. He said he's worked out the kinks, and he'll either win it all or not even get on the podium.
"I feel it's my best trick," he said. "I don't want to go backward. It gives me a good feeling when I do it. I know the crowd loves it. I'm definitely not going to cater to what they're going to score well."
The unorthodox Moseley promises to be entertaining, but he may not have the best chance at Olympic gold for the U.S. Freestyle Team as he leads an American line-up that is even younger than he was in Japan.
Two of the four men skiing for the United States in moguls are just 19 years old and weren't even regulars on the World Cup Tour: Travis Mayer, who qualified by winning the Gold Cup, and Jeremy Bloom, who'sfirst in the World Cup Standings after giving up a football scholarship to focus on skiing.
Bloom is a definite favorite as he's been third twice and first once on the World Cup this season. His first win was the last qualifying event of the season, and he said the experience taught him what it takes to lay down a winning run.
Mayer was a development skier this year and hoped to ski well enough to qualify for the World Cup Tour next season. He ended up second in his hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and first in the Gold Cup two weeks later. The Cornell student said while he never expected to be representing the United States, he's going to continue to give each run everything he has.
He's currently eighth in the world.
The other veteran U.S. skier is Evan Dybvig, 26, from Turnbridge, Vt. He's the only freestyle skier with a child, 4-month-old Owen. Dybvig is something of a medical marvel as he's been skiing with torn ACLs in both knees since November.
He said he was involved in a workout program that helped him deal with the ACL in his left knee when he hurt his right knee in November.
"Initially it was pretty upsetting," he said. "But then I realized I've really been doing this for the last two years."
He said the pain he skis with has become less of an issue and he gives it little thought now. Dybvig is currently ranked 14th and was named to the team by the coaches, who have some discretion.
The U.S. Team faces equally talented competition in Finland's Janne Lahtela and Sami Mustonen, second and fifth in the World Cup Standings, and Canada's Stephane Rochon and Jean-Luc Brassard, third and fourth in the world.
Lahtela is one of the most consistent skiers, while Rochon and Brassard are among the fastest.
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