SNOWBOARD HALFPIPE: Australia’s top snowboarders will take to the halfpipe at the Laax World Cup and the Mammoth Grand Prix this weekend as the PyeongChang 2018 countdown enters its final weeks.
Aussie snowboarders Torah Bright, Holly Crawford and Nate Johnstone will wave the Aussie flag at the Swiss resort for what is the final PyeongChang qualifier.
Three-time Olympians Bright and Crawford will be looking for strong results in Laax as they both look to push for their fourth Games appearance.
Bright returned to elite competition on the North-American Cup circuit in December where she placed first and second in the two events.
Lining up in her first World Cup since prior to Sochi 2014, the 31-year-old then finished in 15th place, one spot behind fellow teammate Crawford in a world class field.
With the US Team remaining at home the Laax World Cup could open up for both Bright and Crawford to push right up the leaderboard.
Current world number 11 Emily Arthur will have a tougher task on her hands as she takes on the current top three athletes in the world at the Mammoth Grand Prix, which doubles as the US Olympic team qualification event.
Arthur, who finished 12th at Snowmass with a best score of 60.25, opted to stay in the US to work on perfecting her run and new tricks.
“Mammoth is my home mountain so my coach and I thought it would be good to compete there and get some extra training in and not worry about traveling so close to the Olympics,” Arthur said.
“I now have a couple of weeks in Mammoth before the Olympics, so I’m really excited to get my new run ready for competition and maybe work on something new on the airbags.
“The airbags really help with fear, because you literally have nothing to lose when you try a trick, so it definitely helps me get tricks quicker.”
Also competing at the Mammoth Grand Prix, which is not a FIS sanctioned event, include Kent Callister (men’s snowboard halfpipe) and Matt Cox (men’s snowboard slopestyle).
Scotty James, who won silver at last week’s Snowmass World Cup, has also chosen to stay in the States for a training block in Breckenridge.
The Laax Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup kicks off tonight, Wednesday Jan 17th, at 7.30pm AEDT for the women’s qualifiers, followed by the men’s qualifiers. Finals will be held late Saturday night. Living timing will be available HERE for the women’s and HERE for the men’s.
The Mammoth Grand Prix kicks off at 3am (AEDT) Thursday morning with finals from midday on Saturday. Follow the event HERE.
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au
