SNOWBOARD: 17-year-old Junior Snowboard World Champion Tess Coady is set to compete in the Slopestyle event at this week’s World Cup in Snowmass, USA.

For all PyeongChang hopefuls, Snowmass is the penultimate chance to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Coady shot to prominence last April after claiming both the Big Air and Slopestyle Junior World Championships within the space of two days in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.

Coach Nacho Vaz said that Coady was “looking forward to be shredding with the other ladies” and that her focus was to “keep it fun and relaxed” while getting acquainted with the course.

“The course in Snowmass is really fun so it should be a great event,” he said.

The Victorian high-school student, who only started competing internationally in 2017, finished 17th at the most recent Slopestyle World Cup in Cardrona, New Zealand in September last year.

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She also competes in Big Air, a new snowboard discipline to debut at PyeongChang 2018, and finished 10th in the Big Air Copper Mountain World Cup in December and 11th at the Milan World Cup in November.

For the young gun, a combination of nerves, self-belief and big crowds is the key to getting her “amped up” when competing.

“The crowd gets me more excited to be competing, knowing there’s people who are getting excited about the things you’re doing,” she previously said.

“You’ve got to trust your riding and your ability.”

Coady will be joined in Snowmass by fellow NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox who recently stepped up to first place on the podium at the Australia-New Zealand Cup in Cardrona in August,

The Slopestyle World Cup kicks off with qualification runs this Wednesday 10 January with finals held on Friday 12th.

David Barden
OWIA