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24th August 2010

The USA dominated the event, as Bobby Brown (19) and Jamie Crane-Mauzy (17) made history as the first ever FIS slopestyle event at the 2010 Junior World Championships.

Bobby Brown                                                                                                                                   image: Neil Kerr

Bobby Brown led the day from the start, qualifying with a solid first run which featured a double cork 10 off the 70ft kicker.

Then in the finals he threw down an almost flawless first run of a switch 270 out, cork 9 tail, switch 900 mute, double cork 1080 finishing with a misty 450 out putting him nine points in the lead. However, that lead was closed on the second run by Gus Kenworthy (USA) but he held onto the title with an impressive 45.1 score. Jonas Hunziker (16) of Switzerland skied up into third place, taking the final spot on the podium.

 
Gus Kenworthy on his way to Silver                                                                                              image: Neil Kerr

It was a super fun day and its awesome to be standing on the podium next to one of my best mates, Gus Kenworthy, said Brown. The introduction of freeskiing into FIS is going to be interesting. Its great to have freeskiing at this event and its a good way to excel our sport.

In the womens Jamie Crane-Mauzy qualified over 11 points ahead of her nearest rival, Blake Peterson (17), also of the States.

Jamie Crane-Mauzy flipping for Gold                                                                                              image: Bel Jones

In the finals a fall in her first run put her to the bottom of the table but her second run which featured a straight slide to back cross to 3 mute followed by a front flip truck finishing with a straight slide enabled her to just pip Keltie Hansen (18) to the post by 0.4 and take the world title. Fellow American, Devin Logan, rounded out the podium.

My goal was to land my run I knew if I could do that I would do OK, said Crane Mauzy. It feels so good to be world champion!

In a great effort from the kiwi team all three New Zealanders finished in the top 10 Byron Wells (18) in fifth, Hamish McDougall (20) in seventh and Matt Johnson (19) in ninth.

Byron Wells 5th place                                                                                                                          image: Neil Kerr

Hamish McDougall 7th place                                                                                                                 image: Neil Kerr

Matt Johnson 9th place                                                                                                                       image: Neil Kerr

Dean Gosper of FIS said

NZ should feel complimented by the level of excitement within FIS about this event, he said. FIS is very excited by New Zealands initiative to not only to host the first world championships in the Southern Hemisphere but also the first combined discipline world championships. The integration of the two sports provides a wonderful opportunity in competitive snow sports. They can sit comfortably side by side with a high cultural overlap and there is also a good level of respect between the disciplines. We see the Junior World Championships as the beginning of a closer working relationship between the disciplines at all levels of FIS.

With regards to the possibility of snowboard and freeski slopestyle and freeski halfpipe entering the Olympics, Gosper commented, There is a high level of interest from spectators and media so theres a strong pull from the outside for these events to come to the Olympics rather than an internal push from the sports. The fact that the terrain is complimentary to these disciplines is also a very attractive feature theyre exciting, contemporary and commercially attractive and can be delivered efficiently- these are very persuasive arguments to an organisation like the IOC.

The on-snow action continues with the snowboard halfpipe qualifiers at Cardrona Alpine Resort. For further information and full results, go to the live scoring section of www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz

Bobby Brown top of the World                                                                                                   image:Neil Kerr