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Teen dream as Zimmermann and Boesch take slopestyle golds
Lisa Zimmermann (GER) and Fabian Boesch (SUI) dominated the respective ladies' and men's slopestyle competitions from start to finish at the Kreischberg 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, putting down the top runs in qualification and then turning up the heat when it mattered most and crushing the finals.
Zimmermann's silky smooth style and near-perfect landings on an eventual winning run that included a slick carved left-side corked 540 tail and a massive last-hit left-side 900 tail saw the judges hand her a score of 85.80.
It was just the run Zimmermann needed after other top qualifiers Katie Summerhayes (GBR) and Zuzana Stromkova (SVK) both stomped their second runs ahead of her, earning scores of 81.40 and 77.60, respectively.
Zimmermann's performance put the pressure on the other ladies to bring it in their final runs if they wanted to take a shot at top prize. Stromkova was unable to improve her score, leaving Summerhayes as the final athlete with a shot at gold.
Summerhayes did step-up, with a final run that included a frontside 450 out of her first rail, a switch right-side 900 Japan, and big right-side 720 on the final hit to bump her score up to 82.60. However, while her run would improve her score, it wouldn't be enough to topple Zimmermann, and the 18-year-old German was able to claim the title of World Champion that had clearly been her mission from the start of the season. Summerhayes would take silver and Stromkova bronze.
“I'm super happy to win the World Championships. For me it's kind of a home World Championships, because I live in Innsbruck now, and I'm just really happy to win this here.”
The men's competition saw all sorts of huge runs thrown throughout the day, as every competitor managed to go end-to-end at least once, or, in the case of Russ Henshaw (AUS), three times, as the top-ranked rider came out of the gates firing with a first-run score of 90.60 that put him way out in front of the field after the first run.
While Henshaw was able put down two more 90-point-plus runs over the course of the competition, stomping a backside 630 out of the cannon rail up top and throwing a left double-corked 1260 mute to Japan on the final hit of this second run to score 91.80, it would be top qualifier Boesch who would take the contest to the next level with his second run. With a back-to-back switch double misty 1260 Japan to right duble-corked 1260 high mute combo, and a mint left-side double 1260 tail on his final hit, Boesch's second would be the run that would stand up through the rest of the competition.
“I was definitely trying to step it up on my last run,” Henshaw said when asked of his efforts to top Boesch in run three, “I added a nose-butter on my first jump, but unfortunately I had a little bobble on the downrail, the first feature of the course, and I kind of knew that even if I landed everything perfectly it wouldn't be enough to beat Fabian.”
With Henshaw, Noah Wallace (USA), and the rest of the field unable to match Boesch in their final runs, it was victory lap time for the young Swiss skier, as he let fly with some celebratory backflips on his way down to collect his prize and his place in the record books as the youngest World Champion in the history of freestyle skiing.
“I could see the scoring at the top so I knew before I dropped in that I had won,” Boesch said after the dust had settled, all smiles, “I was just super stoked. I've always wanted to do a victory lap and that was my first time doing one, so I did a few backflips.”
ZIMMERMANN WINNING RUN - left-side 270 on top rail; railslide 270 out; carved left-side corked 540 tail grab; switch right-side 540 safety; railslide; left-side 900 tail grab
BOESCH WINNING RUN – switch left-side tails-over 270 on to 270 off rail; railslide backside corked 810 off; switch left-side double misty 1260 Japan; right-side double-corked 1260 high mute; wallride frontside 450 out; left double-corked 1260 tail
Zimmermann's silky smooth style and near-perfect landings on an eventual winning run that included a slick carved left-side corked 540 tail and a massive last-hit left-side 900 tail saw the judges hand her a score of 85.80.
It was just the run Zimmermann needed after other top qualifiers Katie Summerhayes (GBR) and Zuzana Stromkova (SVK) both stomped their second runs ahead of her, earning scores of 81.40 and 77.60, respectively.
Zimmermann's performance put the pressure on the other ladies to bring it in their final runs if they wanted to take a shot at top prize. Stromkova was unable to improve her score, leaving Summerhayes as the final athlete with a shot at gold.
Summerhayes did step-up, with a final run that included a frontside 450 out of her first rail, a switch right-side 900 Japan, and big right-side 720 on the final hit to bump her score up to 82.60. However, while her run would improve her score, it wouldn't be enough to topple Zimmermann, and the 18-year-old German was able to claim the title of World Champion that had clearly been her mission from the start of the season. Summerhayes would take silver and Stromkova bronze.
“I'm super happy to win the World Championships. For me it's kind of a home World Championships, because I live in Innsbruck now, and I'm just really happy to win this here.”
The men's competition saw all sorts of huge runs thrown throughout the day, as every competitor managed to go end-to-end at least once, or, in the case of Russ Henshaw (AUS), three times, as the top-ranked rider came out of the gates firing with a first-run score of 90.60 that put him way out in front of the field after the first run.
While Henshaw was able put down two more 90-point-plus runs over the course of the competition, stomping a backside 630 out of the cannon rail up top and throwing a left double-corked 1260 mute to Japan on the final hit of this second run to score 91.80, it would be top qualifier Boesch who would take the contest to the next level with his second run. With a back-to-back switch double misty 1260 Japan to right duble-corked 1260 high mute combo, and a mint left-side double 1260 tail on his final hit, Boesch's second would be the run that would stand up through the rest of the competition.
“I was definitely trying to step it up on my last run,” Henshaw said when asked of his efforts to top Boesch in run three, “I added a nose-butter on my first jump, but unfortunately I had a little bobble on the downrail, the first feature of the course, and I kind of knew that even if I landed everything perfectly it wouldn't be enough to beat Fabian.”
With Henshaw, Noah Wallace (USA), and the rest of the field unable to match Boesch in their final runs, it was victory lap time for the young Swiss skier, as he let fly with some celebratory backflips on his way down to collect his prize and his place in the record books as the youngest World Champion in the history of freestyle skiing.
“I could see the scoring at the top so I knew before I dropped in that I had won,” Boesch said after the dust had settled, all smiles, “I was just super stoked. I've always wanted to do a victory lap and that was my first time doing one, so I did a few backflips.”
ZIMMERMANN WINNING RUN - left-side 270 on top rail; railslide 270 out; carved left-side corked 540 tail grab; switch right-side 540 safety; railslide; left-side 900 tail grab
BOESCH WINNING RUN – switch left-side tails-over 270 on to 270 off rail; railslide backside corked 810 off; switch left-side double misty 1260 Japan; right-side double-corked 1260 high mute; wallride frontside 450 out; left double-corked 1260 tail
Source: fis-ski.com
