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30th August 2010

 Noah Bowman (CAN) and Britta Sigourney (USA) were today crowned as the first FIS Junior World Champions in the freestyle ski halfpipe.

The top placing kiwi competitor was Beau James Wells who placed 7th and at 14 was the youngest competitor in the field.

Beau put in a consistent and solid run with challenging conditions, said Snow Sports New Zealand Chief Executive, Ross Palmer.  It was great to see him out there with some of the worlds best.  His performance today was commendable.

A heavy overnight snowfall delayed the start while the pipe was emptied of snow but by 1.00pm competition was underway for a two-run final.

Bowman threw down the run of the day in his first run, which in hindsight was good planning on his part. A huge left 5 mute into a right 7 tail, into a switch left 7 mute, right 5 reverse mute, left 9 tail, perfectly executed earned him 40.5. Walter Wood of USA and Kristopher Atkinson (CAN) took second and third respectively.

Noah Bowman (USA)                                                                                                   image: Bel Jones

Stop-start conditions and eventual dense fog saw the mens finals being decided on just one run causing disappointment among competitors who didnt land their first run which included one of the top riders, Byron Wells (NZE).

It was a tough day out there and disappointing for everyone that the weather wasnt better, said head judge, Ola Sundequist. It was a shame Byron didnt land his first hit based on what we had seen at training. And it was a shame all the riders didnt really get the chance to show what they can do.

I wasnt too worried about the weather, said Bowman. I did a safer run for my first run and was planning to do a harder one second time round but luckily I scored well on that first run.

The womens event was one rider short of completion and Devin Logan (USA) waited over two hours for a gap in the fog to complete her second run. However, Mother Nature wasnt her side and the womens event also reverted to a one run final. While Sigourney had put down her highest scoring run in her second run, her first attempt was also enough to earn her first place with 41.1 with a left 5, alleyoop, straight tail mute, alleyoop 5 finishing with a straight 7.

It was a little challenging out there at first with the pipe being stuck in a big cloud but I was really glad we got to do the competition, said Sigourney. Im stoked with my results and it was too bad Devin didnt get to do her second run after waiting so long.

Hannah Haupt (USA) took second and Devin Logan rounded out the podium in third.

The only New Zealander to compete in the womens field was Wanakas Mikayla Austin.  Austin who suffered a torn calf just prior to the commencement of the junior World Championships was forced to withdraw from the slopestyle competition and then gritted her way through the skier cross.  Despite further injuring her calf during a training run prior to the competition she put on a brave face and completed two runs.

At the end of competition the USA were announced as recipients of the Nations Trophy as the most successful nation in the freestyle ski disciplines Were excited and really proud to have represented the USA the way we did, Cheryl Pearson, USA freestyle programme manager. The kids stayed focussed and stuck to their game plans throughout the competition and were in the top six in every event. Wed also like to thank the organising committee for running such an excellent event.

The final event of the 2010 FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships is the snowboard big air on Tuesday 31 August with live music and the official closing ceremony. For further information and full results visit www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.