Slopestyle World Cup season officially over, Ormerod and Tobita claiming globes
Mar 10, 2020·Snowboard Park & Pipe
After announcing the cancellation last week of the FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup finals in Spindleruv Mlyn (CZE) as a result of government restrictions imposed due to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus issues in Europe, FIS Snowboard officials confirmed today that there will not be a replacement competition for the final event.
While discussions took place with several parties over the past few days, difficulties in securing the infrastructure required for World Cup slopestyle competition at this late stage of the season, combined with coronavirus-related health concerns around the globe, meant that it was not possible to reschedule the competition.
With this announcement, the 2019/20 FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup season officially comes to a close, with Katie Ormerod of Great Britain and Japan’s Ruki Tobita winning the respective women’s and men’s crystal globes.
Ormerod earns podiums in four of four competitions to win women’s globe
Ormerod’s standout season was one of the feel-good stories of the year, as the 22-year-old returned to competition after nearly two years away recovering from injury and immediately made an impact, earning a second-place finish in Cardrona (NZL) at the season-opening big air World Cup.
However, it would be in slopestyle where Ormerod would really make her mark in 2019/20, earning four podiums in four competitions with third-place finishes in Laax (SUI), Mammoth Mountain (USA), and Calgary (CAN), and a runner-up result in Seiser Alm (ITA) to finish the season with 2,600 points and her first career crystal globe title.
It is a history-making achievement for Ormerod, as by taking the 2019/20 slopestyle title she becomes the first rider from Great Britain ever to win a FIS Snowboard crystal globe.
“I’m so excited to be the overall World Cup Slopestyle Champion," Ormerod said when told of the news, "I have finished this season with 5 World Cup podiums, 3 yellow bibs and my first ever Overall World Cup Slopestyle title and Crystal Globe. My comeback season has turned out to be the best season of my career so far and it’s been so much fun. Thank you to everyone who has supported me, including my fans, my coach Hamish McKnight, GB Snowsport and my sponsors.”
Second place overall on the women’s side would go to Canada’s Laurie Blouin, for the best overall finish of her eight-season World Cup career.
The Sierra Nevada 2017 slopestyle World Champion, Blouin finished off her 2019/20 World Cup campaign with her first career World Cup victory on home soil in Calgary, while also earning a second-place result in Mammoth and a sixth in Calgary for a total of 2,200 points.
With a third-place in Seiser Alm, seventh in Calgary, and a ninth-place finish in Laax, Blouin’s Canadian teammate Brooke Voigt would take third place on the slopestyle overall rankings with 1,250 points. Voigt also finished second overall on the big air standings.
Tobita claims men’s globe in just second season of World Cup competition
On the men’s side of things it would be 20-year-old Ruki Tobita (JPN) claiming the 2019/20 crystal globe after finishing off the season with back-to-back second-place results in Seiser Alm and Calgary and a total of 1616.40 points on the year. 2019/20 was just the second season of World Cup action for the Japanese rider.
The men’s World Cup slopestyle season was a hotly-contested one, with 10 different athletes out of a possible 12 hitting the podium, with only Tobita and Judd Henkes (USA) managing to land in the top-3 more than once.
Tobita joins the likes of Yuki Kadono and Miyabi Onitsuka to become the third Japanese rider to win a slopestyle World Cup title.
Second overall on the men’s standings went to another 20-year-old in New Zealand’s Tiarn Collins, who finished off the season with his first career victory in Calgary to jump onto the final overall podium for the first time in his career to finish the season with 1,340 points. Calgary was just his third slopestyle competition back after missing nearly two years slopestyle competition due to injury.
And, finally, third overall went to the unoffical rookie of the year, as 17-year-old Dusty Henricksen (USA) made his first full season of World Cup competition count, qualifying in first at the Laax Open to announce his arrival (he would finish in ninth), and then winning on home soil in Mammoth to finish the season just back of Collins with 1,290 points.
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