2018 FIS Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships set to kick off in Cardrona
Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
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Cardrona (NZL) - The final competitions of the 2018/19 FIS Freestyle Skiing season are finally upon us with the FIS Junior Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships set to take to the slopes of New Zealand’s Cardrona Mountain Resort from 24 August to 8 September, 2018.
The 2018 edition of the FIS Junior Freestyle Ski World Championships will be just the second time the event has been held south of the equator, after New Zealand’s Otaga resort hosted the full slate of competitions back in 2010. With big air, halfpipe, slopestyle and ski cross competitions all set to hit the venues in Cardrona over a two-week time period, and the added excitement of the 2018 JWCs being part of the wide-ranging Audi quattro Winter Games New Zealand program, all the pieces are in place for the official transition into the new season to be a thrilling one.
A huge slate of the world’s best young skiers will be on hand in Cardrona, with nearly 150 athletes scheduled to compete for medals and representing over 20 nations. Competing athletes will have been born during the period from 1998-2002 for the ski cross cross event, while for the big air, halfpipe, and slopestyle events athletes must have been born during the period from 2000-2004.
The FIS Junior Freestyle Ski World Championships have been a jumping-off point for successful careers for a dazzling array of athletes over the years with Sandra Naeslund (SWE), Perrine Laffont (FRA), Lisa Zimmerman (GER) or Kai Mahler (SUI) just to name few.
Among the biggest name in this year’s competition will be the reigning slopestyle and halfpipe junior world champion Kelly Sildaru, who will be looking to defend her titles from Chiesa in Valmalenco (ITA) and Crans Montana (SUI). Despite her young age, the 16-year-old freakier from Estonia is no rookie and has already multiple X Games as well as Dew Tour medals. Making her debut on the FIS Freeski World Cup tour last season in Cardrona, Sildaru topped the podium in the slopestyle competition, also taking second in the halfpipe event. And while the ACL injury put her on hold for the rest of 2017/2018 campaign, we’re excited to see what Sildaru will bring to the table this season.
Like Kelly Sildaru, many of the young riders competing in Cardrona have already made names for themselves on the FIS Freeski World Cup and at other elite-level competitions, and will be looking to add the title of “Junior World Champion” to their CVs over the coming weeks.
RETURNING 2017 MEDALLISTS
MEN:
Taisei Yamamoto (JPN) - slopestyle gold
Oliwer Magnusson (SWE) - slopestyle silver
Ryan Stevenson (USA) - slopestyle bronze
LADIES:
Kelly Sildaru (EST) - slopestyle & halfpipe gold
Svea Irving (USA) - halfpipe silver
Valeriya Demidova (RUS) - halfpipe bronze
Action begins on 25 August with the big air finals, followed by ski cross on 27 August, ski cross team event on 28 August, slopestyle on 31 August, and halfpipe on 4 September closing out the snowboard portion of the Cardrona 2018 Junior Snowboard World Championships. The final event of the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ will be the FIS Freeski big air World Cup competition - the first World Cup of the 2018/19 season - which will take place on September 7, 2018.
The 2018 JWCs aerials and moguls events were held earlier this year in Raubichi/Minsk (BLR) and Duved (SWE), respectively. To see full results from those competitions click HERE.
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