Chas Guldemond and Spencer O’Brien prevail in slopestyle finals at World Snowboarding Championships
America’s Chas Guldemond and Canada’s Spencer O’Brien won the Slopestyle Finals at World Snowboarding Championships that went down at Winter Park in Oslo, Norway, on Sunday, February 19.
While Guldemond took top honours in the men’s field, Canada’s Sebastien Toutant had to settle for runner-up place. Belgium’s Seppe Smits finished third to secure the last remaining spot on the podium.
In the women’s field, O’Brien pushed America’s Jamie Anderson to second place while Finland’s Enni Rukajärvi rounded out the third place to complete the podium.
The field for slopestyle contest included some pretty intimidating names, compelling the crowd to anticipate a nail-biting Final. The riders did not disappoint and put on spectacular performances on a course that featured a three-option handrail, an option
of four jibs, a set of two kickers, channel gap, another option of two jibs and a huge step-over jump in the end.
In the men’s slopestyle Final, Guldemond managed to edge past Toutant’s best-run score of 86.8 in the final minutes of the competition with his 87.9-point run. The run comprised of a front-side blunt 270 out, front-side board-slide to 450 out, switch back-side
1260, back-side 1080, tail-press to back-slide 180 and a huge Cab 1260 in the end.
“It was an amazing day. I’m stoked to win the World Snowboarding Championships. This was the best event I’ve seen this year and in snowboarding so far,” said an excited Guldemond after winning the Final.
In the women’s slopestyle Final, a deviation from the usual format led to the leading rider dropping first in the final round instead of last, causing Anderson to go in first and try to improve her best score of 78.9.
O’Brien, who had ended up falling in her previous two runs, pulled off a sensational third run, putting together a back-side 540, switch back-side 540, 50-50 and front-side 720 combo. The effort earned her an 84.4 to put her ahead of Anderson on the score-board
and consequently earn her top honours.
Talking to a reporter after the event, an overjoyed O’Brien said, “It feels amazing. It’s still sinking in and the idea of being World Champion is so crazy. I’m so happy and so excited and so proud of all the girls.”
With their success at World Snowboard Championships, both Guldemond and O’Brien emerged as the inaugural Ticket to Ride Slopestyle World Champions.
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