Boarders Boesiger, Murase fly clear at Big Air Chur
Hometown snowboarding hero Jonas Boesiger topped the men's event at the World Cup stop in Chur, Switzerland while the women's side was dominated by high-flying Japanese big air prodigy Kokomo Murase.
Snowboard
The energy of the crowd at the Big Air World Cup event in Chur, Switzerland this weekend (the first with fans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic) seemed to lend an extra level of intensity to the athletes on the first stop of this year's winter snowboard season.
Swiss rider and Pyeongchang 2018 veteran Jonas Boesiger thrilled the home crowd on Saturday with a winning performance on the picturesque banks of the River Rhine. His huge total combined score of 162.00 (over three jumps in the final round) was more than enough to see off the spirited challenges of the best of the rest.
Second-place was sealed by Finland's Rene Rinnekangas (141.00), who had the Swiss fans on their feet with his all-or-nothing approach. Swede Sven Thorgren finished in third after a strong performance (134.00) that will have his hopes high as the competition continues to build toward the Beijing Games in February.
"It's just so amazing," said Swiss rider Boesiger, who sealed the victory after the first two of his three runs in the final round. "I can't really believe it yet. The crowd was huge and the conditions were good and it was just really fun to ride. I hope we can keep the momentum going [to Beijing]."
Team USA rider Brock Crouch found himself just off the podium in fourth (114.75).
On the women's side of the competition, Japan's 16-year-old phenom Kokomo Murase, who burst onto the scene at the 2018 X Games in Norway, took top spot with three sizzling jumps in the final round to edge out pre-event favourite and defending big air Olympic champion Anna Gasser of Austria (second) and Canada's Jasmine Baird (third).
"I'm so happy to win here today," said Murase. "I was very nervous coming into the competition because everyone here is so, so good. I'm also so excited to continue [in the winter season] and hoping to do my best with the Olympics [Beijing 2022] coming up."
Teenage kicks in freeski event
Friday’s freestyle skiing competition at the dual World Cup stop (snowboarding and freeskiing) also saw a dogfight between some of the discipline’s top performers.
On the women’s side, France’s teenage sensation Tess Ledeux laid down a huge score of 95.25 to top the podium, with Swiss pre-event favourite Sarah Hoefflin coming second and Elena Gaskell of Canada rounding out the podium places.
On the men’s side, fellow teenager Matej Svancer of Austria finished atop the heap in a talented field (99.00) with an astonishing run that had jaws dropping all over the freeski world.
Teal Harle of Canada flew into second place in the final standings, with Norway’s Ruud Birk taking third.
Next up for the snowboarders is the snowboard cross event at Secret Garden in the People’s Republic of China between 26 and 28 November, with another big air event at Steamboat in the United States between 2-4 December.
The all-important Beijing 2022 snowboarding competition – comprised of big air/slopestyle, halfpipe, parallel giant slalom and snowboard cross – runs from 5 to 15 February at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou and Big Air Shougang in Beijing.