Practically perfect, Kearney beats Heil for gold

Hannah Kearney has won America’s first gold medal of the

Vancouver Olympics, winning the women’s moguls by defeating

Canadian Jenn Heil.

Kearney scored 26.63 points in the final Saturday night, to

defeat Heil by the wide margin of .94 points. American Shannon

Bahrke took bronze to add to her silver medal from 2002.

Kearney’s win came after a 22nd-place finish at the Turin

Olympics – a bitter disappointment after she came in as a favorite.

It denied Heil, the defending Olympic champion, the chance to

become the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home turf.