Gus Kenworthy captures victory in men’s ski halfpipe at 2011 New Zealand Winter Games
America’s Gus Kenworthy took top honours in men’s ski halfpipe, the first ski freestyle event of the 2011 New Zealand Winter Games, which went down at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand on Wednesday, August 17.
New Zealand’s Jossi Wells took runner-up place, while America’s David Wise finished third to round off the podium.
The competition was finally able to get underway on Wednesday after a delay of few days caused by the unprecedented snowfall across New Zealand. Even on Wednesday, the conditions were far from perfect, with heavy fog, wind and a less-than-perfect pipe. Despite
the demanding conditions, the freeskiing talent from all around the globe pulled together sensational runs to treat the crowd to an exciting contest.
After the qualifying round wrapped up, the organisers put the contest on hold for a few hours because of the unfavourable weather conditions before eventually getting the Finals underway.
Kenworthy stole the show in the Final, throwing down a run that was comprised of a left cork 9 with a tail grab, right side cork 7 with a tail grab, two switch left 7 mutes, alley oop flat spin 540 and a left cork ten eight tail grab. The exquisite run earned
him a winning score of 85.00 points.
In an interview after the final, Kenworthy said, “The weather sucked, but we all had to compete in it. There were a lot of good runs, and I'm stoked to have come out on top.”
The local skier, Wells, finished in second place after earning 78.25 points off a run that included a left side cork 9 tail, right side cork 9 safety, a left flair tail grab, a right side 7 tail grab, eventually finishing with a switch 7 mute shifty.
Wise completed the men’s podium after scoring 75.25 points off a run that included a left flair safety, a right side cork 9 tail grab, a left cork 9 nose, an alley oop flat three sixty mute, a switch left seven dub Japan grab and an alley oop flat 540 mute.
Taylor Seaton and Yannic Lerjen rounded out the top 5 after finishing with 70.75 and 67.50 points respectively.
The freeskiing action is scheduled to continue today with the ski slopestyle competition.
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