Aspen, USA (8 April 2017) – As a busy season spent competing throughout Europe and North America draws to a close, New Zealand ski racers Adam Barwood (Queenstown) and Willis Feasey (Twizel) have posted career best results at the FIS race series in Aspen, USA. Barwood claimed three wins in a row with team mate Feasey claiming second place in Super-G and second and fourth places finishes in Giant Slalom. With six 15 point and under FIS results between them, this is the most successful ever race series for a New Zealand men’s ski team.
Barwood scored 10.08 in Super-G on Thursday (6 April) and followed up with a 9.80 result in GS on Friday (7 April) and then 9.00 in GS on Saturday. Feasey scored 15.26 in Super-G, and also continued to improve, with 14.90 and then 9.55 in Giant Slalom.
The results will significantly improve the skiers’ world rankings as they look to meet nomination criteria for next year’s Olympic Winter Games in South Korea.
"I'm very happy to get a career best result here in Aspen," says Willis. "Both Adam and I have been skiing really well, just making a few unnecessary mistakes, so it's pretty cool to put together a good run at the same time and share the podium with my team mate."
“I couldn’t be happier with my results,” adds Barwood.
The pair have two more days of GS racing in Aspen, followed by two Slalom races in Vail before wrapping up the Northern Hemisphere season and returning to NZ.
Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic (31 March 2017) – New Zealand snowboarder, Tiarn Collins (Queenstown) claimed a bronze medal at the Junior World Championship slopestyle in Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic. The penultimate event in a busy northern hemisphere season spent ticking off qualifying criteria for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Collins says, “It was such a good feeling to be standing back on a podium.”
After qualifying top in Thursday’s heats, Collins was able to fast track through to finals, rather than contesting semi-finals rounds. There the Kiwi faced stiff competition from US rider Chris Corning who won the final FIS World Cup slopestyle event of the season at the same venue and came into Spindleruv Mlyn with silver in big air and bronze in slopestyle from the recent senior FIS Snowboard World Championships in Sierra Nevada (ESP).
Collins had to overcome nerves to put down a high scoring run on his second attempt in the finals.
“I was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been before my second run because I crashed I fell on my first,” he explains.
Putting a season’s worth of competition experience to good use, Collins pushed through with a technical rail line and landed a solid cab double 12 on the bottom jump for a score of 92.00 and the bronze medal.
Corning topped the podium with a score of 96.75 ahead of teammate Judd Henkes (92.25).
Competition continues tomorrow with the men’s Big Air finals. After topping his qualifying heat on Wednesday Collins says he’s “super excited” about the final event of the season.
Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic (25 March 2017) – NZ snowboarder Zoi Sadowski Synnott (Wanaka) triumphed in the 2016-17 season's slopestyle World Cup finale which was staged at the Snowjam.cz in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic on Saturday 25 March. It is the 16-year-old teenage snowboarder’s first World Cup win.
[embed width="480" height="270" class="leftAlone" thumbnail="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_Gt5pEFKK8/hqdefault.jpg?r=96475"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Gt5pEFKK8[/embed]
She earned silver at the FIS Snowboard World Championships in Spain earlier in March and claimed World Cup bronze in Snowboard Big Air in Quebec, Canada in February.
Last to drop of the six female finalists, Sadowski Synnott, recorded her top score of 87.35 on her final run of three but had the luxury of a victory lap with her second run score of 85.18 already enough to edge off Spencer O'Brien (CAN; 81.22) and last year's winner Silvia Mittermueller (GER, 73.40) to the respective second and third rank.
“My last run was the best, I felt so comfortable,” explains Sadowski Synnott. “I liked the first part of the track – the rails."
Sadowski Synnott is the third Kiwi in history since Juliane Bray (Sapporo, 2001) and Christy Prior (Stoneham, 2014) to win a snowboard World Cup event.
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