World class action in Slopestyle contest | Winter Games New Zealand 2019

Finals day brought a spectacular showdown at the FIS Australia New Zealand Cup Freeski & Snowboard Slopestyle. Ben Barclay was never in doubt for a podium placing as soon as he had the first run on the scoreboard, taking the lead right from the get-go with a score of 87.33. Scoring highly for the difficulty and variety of his rail tricks and then backing up with well-executed and technical jump tricks, the win was his for the taking.
Eileen Gu was the deserved winner, getting solid grabs on every spin and demonstrating solid trick execution throughout her run. An 88.33 on her first run of the day was enough to seal the win.
One of the most experienced athletes in the competition and celebrating her 26th birthday today, World Cup ranked number two Silje Norendal landed three solid runs in the Women’s Snowboard, saving her best for last with a winning score of 95.33 on run three.
The men’s competition saw a few shuffles in the rankings before the final podium placings were locked in. Hiroaki Kumitake (JPN) set the bar with a first run score of 92.33 but countryman Ryoma Kimata went one better, coming back from a crash on his first run to land 93.33 on his second run and jump in to first place.

Results

Women Snowboard
1. Silje Norendal, NOR
2. Melissa Peperkamp, NED
3. Sommer Gendron, CAN

Men Snowboard
1. Ryoma Kimata, JPN
2. Horoaki Kunitrake, JPN
3. Torgeir Bergrem, NOR

Women Freeski
1. Eileen Gu, CHN
2. Ruby Andrews,
3. Abi Harrigan,

Men Freeski
1. Ben Barcley, NZL
2. Taisei Yamamoto,
3. Luca Harrington,