Both were considered up-and-coming stars in their sport. And both arrived a little bit ahead of schedule today at separate world championship events on the other side of the globe.

Washington winter sports athletes don't have many days like this one. Less than 24 hours apart, mogul skier Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum shocked the ski world with a gold medal at the Freestyle World Championships in Japan. And short-track speedskater J.R. Celski of Federal Way claimed his own world championship medal -- a bronze in the 1,500 meters in Vienna.

Deneen puts it all together

Deneen's win in Inwashiro, Japan, was a stunner: The 21-year-old has yet to post a win on the World Cup moguls circuit, although a top-three finish in Lake Placid last year marked him as a young skier to watch this season.

But Deneen struggled early in the season, seemingly always finishing in the top group of contenders -- or near the very bottom after a crash.

"I had such a tough time earlier this season," Deneen told U.S. Skiing today. "I had about four events where I crashed in every one of them, so to come out and finally stick two runs in a row, and with those two runs win, is awesome."

Deneen, who grew up skiing at Hyak on Snoqualmie Summit, has always been known for his speed on the moguls course. He had the fastest finish times in Japan -- not surprising. But he finally melded that speed with aerial prowess, landing a new trick, a "Back X," off the top jump of his final run. He also stuck a "D-Spin," another trick he had struggled with of late, off the bottom jump.

He put together his best overall performance when it counted most.

"It really hasn't set in yet, but just to know that I have that now is a great feeling," he said. "I don't even know how to put it into words. I just can't believe it's mine," Deneen said. "It's been a really long and tough season so far, so to have this win feels really good. To come out with a World Championship win is the most incredible thing."

Deneen credited time he has spent practicing his aerials -- time taken off the competition trail.

"I went home, worked on it and came back here and everything worked," he told U.S. Skiing. "I had a really tough training day yesterday and same with this morning, but everything just went together for my finals run. It's pretty amazing.

"This is the toughest moguls course in the world. It was some tough skiing out there today and I had my only top to bottom runs in the actual competition."

U.S. Moguls Coach Scott Rawles liked what he saw:

"He really stepped up and put it together today. I think he had high expectations coming into this year, but he definitely showed everyone what he could do today," Rawles said. "It's very gratifying to see someone who has worked so hard and put so much time into his sport, to put together the performance he did today and end up on top of the podium at World Championships."

Some more background on Deneen from a previous blog post is here, and a previous print piece here.

Celski gets a win -- and beats his hero -- in Vienna

J.R. Celski, 18, grew up idolizing five-time Olympic medalist Apolo Ohno. Today in Vienna, he beat out his hero at the World Championships, claiming a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters -- a race in which Ohno finished fourth.

Celski, a Federal Way native who, like Ohno, got his start as an inline skater, was fresh off a multiple-medal performance (two golds and a bronze) at the Junior World Championships in Quebec when in January. He and Ohno both raced their way to the 1,500-meter world championship final.

Celski led for much of the race, with Ohno on his hip. On the final lap, both were passed by Korea's Ho-Suk Lee and Yoon-Gy Kwak.

"I looked back to see where Apolo was and didn't realize Ho-Sok and Yoon-Gy were passing me," Celski told reporters. "I felt really good today and I'm very surprised on the results."

Racing continues on Saturday, with the men's and women's 500 meters and the men's 5,000-meter relay semifinals.

Here's a piece we did on the then-youngster Celski at the launch of his competitive career.

Photos: U.S. Ski Team/Pat Deneen rightside up (top) and upside down at Deer Valley (bottom.)