Medals and PBs across the ice and snow headline this weekend in winter sport, with skeleton racer Jackie Narracott and snowboarder Tess Coady both bagging World Cup gold medals.
Jackie wins historic Skeleton gold
Jackie Narracott created history, winning skeleton World Cup gold in St Moritz to become the first Australian to win a skeleton World Cup event.
Competing on the spectacular hand cut ice on the natural Switzerland track, the 2018 Olympian had an amazing first run to break the track record with a time of 1:08.72 seconds to shock the field.
With nerves of steel as the final competitor in the second run, Jackie put down another amazing performance with the second fastest run of the round to cross the line in first place with a two run combined time 0.06 seconds ahead of second place finisher and new World Cup overall season champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands, with Mirela Rahneva of Canada 0.66 seconds behind Jackie in third.
On the men’s side, Nick Timmings finished in 28th place.
Tess wins Slopestyle in Switzerland
Tess Coady has recorded the second World Cup victory of her career, with an impressive gold medal performance in the slopestyle event at the Laax Open in Switzerland, while Matt Cox in slopestyle and teen Valentino Guseli in halfpipe recording personal best finishes.
In a dominating performance Tess won the qualification round and had the two highest scoring runs in the final, sealing the deal with a spectacular frontside double 1080 on the last jump.
In the men’s event, Matt Cox’s best score came in run number two, with a 65.78 giving him the best World Cup slopestyle finish of his career in seventh place. While Valentino put down two great runs scoring 80.50 on his first run, and 80 on his second run to finish in a personal best fifth in the men’s halfpipe final.
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Laura lands historic high scoring jump
Laura Peel has produced one of the highest scoring jumps of all-time to win gold at the World Cup aerial skiing event in Deer Valley, USA.
She scored an amazing 118.05 points with her full-full-full, triple twisting triple back somersault, to record the seventh World Cup victory of her career and won by almost 35 points. Laura’s score was so impressive, it would have put her on the podium in the men’s event.
Danielle Scott almost made it a double podium for Australia, finishing in fourth place after attempting her first ever full-full-full in competition, which scored 80.27 points after having trouble with her landing.
Double Deer Valley podium for Jakara
Jakara Anthony wrapped up her Olympic qualification with a double medal performance at the World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, winning a silver and bronze across the event double header to take her season tally to eight medals.
The result sees Jakara ranked third in the women’s moguls World Cup standings and first in the overall mogul World Cup standings, which also includes results from the dual mogul discipline.
Cooper Woods also impressed, making his first ever super final to finish fifth on event day one. Teammate Brodie Summers also made the super final to finish sixth on the second day of competition.
Moguls Matt Graham ramps up rehab in Brisbane heat
A month after snapping his collarbone in a training crash, Olympic moguls silver medallist Matt Graham has defied the odds, resuming practice just weeks away from the start of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Matt underwent surgery straight after the fall at the Idre Fjall World Cup event in Sweden, but incredibly he's back practising jumps at the Geoff Henke Winter Olympic Training Centre in Brisbane, as he aims to compete in his third Olympic Games.
On a day where Genting Snow Park, which hosts the Olympic moguls competition, hit a low of minus 19 degrees, the 2021 overall moguls World Cup champion launched off the ramps into the pool in 30 degree Brisbane heat.
Walker and Ferlazzo continue sliding seasons
‘Bobsled’ Bree Walker continued her impressive season, finishing seventh in the monobob world series event in St Moritz, Switzerland, before joining with brakewoman Sarah Blizzard in the two-woman, finishing 15th.
Alex Ferlazzo continued his Luge World Cup season in Oberhof, Germany, finishing 31st, 1.9 seconds behind winner and Pyeongchang 2018 dual medallist Johannes Ludwig of Germany.
Sami Kennedy-Sim best of Aussies in Nakiska Ski Cross
Aussie athletes competed in a wild ski cross World Cup double header event in Nakiska, Canada, which featured tricky conditions and crashes throughout the day.
Sami Kennedy-Sim finished 22nd on day one before improving to 14th on day two, while on the men’s side Doug Crawford finished with results of 48th and 45th, just ahead of compatriot Alfred Wenk in 51st and 54th.
Abi Harrigan finishes top 15 in French Freeski Slopestyle World Cup
France’s Font Romeu hosted the freeski slopestyle World Cup, with Abi Harrigan the best placed Australian. Her score of 49.48 saw her finish in 13th, as the event was won by hometown hope Tess Ledeux.
On the men’s side Bailey Johnson finished in 34th, just ahead of compatriot Cameron Waddell in 36th.
Small takes on Austrian Alpine slopes
Dual Olympian Greta Small continued her alpine season in the World Cup event in Zauchensee, Austria.
Greta finished 41st in the women’s downhill in a time of 1.49.71, 3.93 seconds back from winner Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland.
