Lillis Lands Eighth in Olympic Aerials

Jon Lillis (Pittsford, N.Y.) represented Team USA in what was arguably one of the best men’s aerials contests in recent years on Sunday night at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Lillis was the top qualifier coming into the final jumps, but was unable to cleanly perform his jump in the second final, a full, full, double full, and finished eighth.

“It's obviously not the result I hoped for,” said Lillis. “My last jump wasn't the jump that I know I have inside of me somewhere. I just have to reflect on that and keep going. The fact that I was here and competed at the level that I did and landed all my jumps is something that I can go home and be proud of. Competing here and representing my country has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, so that's about as big of a win as you can ask for.”

Ukraine’s Oleksandr Abramenko attempted the same trick as Lillis and put it straight to his feet to win the gold with a score of 128.51. China’s Zongyang Jia was right behind him with a score of 128.05 for the silver. Olympic Athlete from Russia Ilia Burov took bronze with a score of 122.17.

While Lillis’s focus remained on the competition at hand, his younger brother Mikey, who passed away late last fall, was never far from his mind. Jon paid tribute to his brother by jumping in the same suit Mikey wore for his competitions.

“You have to use the good moments in your life to inspire you and prove that you can do your best and you have to use the lowest moments in your life to push you even harder to do the best that you can,” said Lillis. “If you would have asked someone at the end of October what they thought my year was going to look like, they might say that I would have a downward spiral and that I wouldn't be here. I think the fact that I just came out here and gave it my all is something that I can go home and be really proud of.”

RESULTS
Men’s aerials