Anna Gasser Austrian Athlete of the Year

Yesterday marked an historic milestone in the history of sport in Austria as Anna Gasser was voted Best Female Athlete of the Year therefore becoming the first ever snowboarder to receive this special honour.

However, the award was well-deserved as the 26-year-old Carinthian is looking back on a perfect season.

Besides winning the Big Air World Cups in Milan (ITA), Alpensia (KOR), Moenchengladbach (GER) and Quebec City (CAN), she also triumphed on home soil at the Slopestyle World Cup Kreischberg (AUT) whilst placing second in the Moscow Big Air and LAAX OPEN slopestyle, too.

As a result, she not only took home the Crystal Globe in the Big Air World Cup but also won the Snowboard Freestyle World Cup Overall title.

In addition, she topped up her season with the Gold in the Big Air event of the 2017 FIS Snowboard World Championships where she became the first ever woman to land a double cork 1080 in competition as well as a Slopestyle Gold at the X Games.

“It's a surprise although many said I would be a favourite to take home the award. But I didn't expect anything until I heard my name which makes it even better. It was a very emotional moment for me, and it kind of is an additional incentive to work even harder to hopefully keep the momentum from last season,” she said.