Ala Petrovna Zuper ( Belarusian Ала Цупер , internationally known as Alla Tsuper transcribed; * 16th April 1979 in Rivne , Ukrainian SSR ) is a Belarusian freestyle skier in the discipline Aerials (jumping). She won the World Cup discipline in the 2001/02 season and was Olympic champion in 2014.
Zuper made his debut in the World Cup on December 7, 1996 and achieved 26th place in Tignes . A month later, she reached fourth place in Lake Placid, her first top 10 placement in the World Cup. At the 1997 World Championships in Iizuna Kogen near Nagano , she came in 13th place. The following year she took fifth place in her first Olympic participation in 1998 at the same location. After the games, she moved from the Ukrainian to the Belarusian association. In March 2000, Zuper achieved her first World Cup podium with second place in Livigno . In the 2000/01 season she won her first World Cup competitions in Blackcomb and Mont-Tremblant . There was also a second and a third place. So she reached third place in the overall World Cup and second place in the Aerials World Cup. At the 2001 World Championships in Whistler , she was tenth.
At the beginning of the 2001/02 season , Zuper won at Mount Buller . In the further course of the season, she also won the World Cup competitions in Lake Placid and Whistler. In Mont-Tremblant she came second twice and finished the season in second place in the overall World Cup and first place in the Aerials World Cup. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , she jumped to ninth place. In the 2002/03 season she finished second in Fernie and twice third in Lake Placid. At the 2003 World Championships in Deer Valley , she jumped to 12th place. This was followed by a one-year break. Her best result in the 2004/05 World Cup season was a third place, at the 2005 World Championships in Ruka she was fifth.
At the beginning of the 2005/06 season , Zuper finished second and third on Mount Buller. This was followed in the further course of the season with a win in Apex , second places in Špindlerův Mlýn and Davos and a third place in Deer Valley. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , she was tenth. She finished the season in eighth place in the overall World Cup and second in the Aerials World Cup. The following season, 2006/07 , she came in second in the Deer Valley. At the 2007 World Championships in Madonna di Campiglio , she just missed a medal with fourth place. In the 2007/08 season , which she finished in third place in the Aerials World Cup, she won in Mont Gabriel , while she achieved second place in Inawashiro and third place in Davos.
In January 2009, Zuper achieved the eighth and so far last World Cup victory in Lake Placid. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , she came in eighth place. In the 2010/11 World Cup season , she came second in Mont Gabriel and Lake Placid. She then took a two and a half year break before returning to the World Cup at the beginning of the 2013/14 season. Her greatest success was in February 2014 at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi when she won the gold medal. This success was rather surprising, especially since she had not gotten past ninth place in the World Cup competitions before. Zuper again took a longer break, this time lasting over three years. In the 2017/18 World Cup season , she achieved a top 10 result three times. Zuper competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang . She made it to the finals, but did not get her last jump right and finished fourth.
Belarus
