Sharpe and Bowman on top in the season’s grand finale in Tignes
Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
Tignes (FRA) - The 2017/2018 halfpipe World Cup season is a wrap after an exciting finale at the Ultimate Ears Freestyle Tour in Tignes (FRA), where the Canadian duo of Cassie Sharpe and Noah Bowman walked away with big wins while Sharpe and Alex Ferreira (USA) took the overall halfpipe World Cup titles.
It was a huge night in Tignes as the seventh competition of 2017/2018 went down in great fashion, with a perfectly shaped pipe, massive crowds and some of the world’s best athletes putting on a spectacular show to end a highly entertaining FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup season.
Sharpe claims the victory and the halfpipe World Cup title
In the ladies’ competition it was the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic gold medallist Cassie Sharpe who was boosting massive airs and locking down big tricks all evening, including both left and right 900s, for a total score of 90.40 points and first place in the season’s final event.
With the win on Thursday night, Sharpe grabbed another 100 points into the halfpipe rankings to vault over Brita Sigourney (USA) to take her first World Cup crystal globe.
“This is just the best place to cap of the season,” Sharpe said, “It’s pretty crazy because I don’t think I’ve ever been close to win the globe so I’m just stoked to come here after the Olympics, perform and have a lot of fun with Marie at her last contest.”
Dropping for the last time on Thursday evening was the soon-to-be-retired French pipe legend Marie Martinod, who finished the day and her career with one last podium, taking second place with a round score of 90.00 points. Throwing down a huge 1080 on her last hit in her very last World Cup start, Martinod made her stage exit in spectacular fashion.
The 33-year-old Martinod has wrapped up her incredible career in front of the home crowd in Tignes adding another precious piece of hardware to her impressive collection of two Olympic medals, one World Championships silver, seven World Cup victories, 13 total World Cup podiums, as well as a number of impressive X-Games and Dew Tour results.
“It feels great to end my sporting career at home in front of the people I love and who have been supporting my for so many years,” Martinod said, “With all the fans singing the French national anthem on my last run it was just so amazing.”
Third place on the day went to Brita Sigourney for her 88.40 points run and her third podium finish this season.
“I’ve just had a really good year and I could not ask for more than to wrap up the season on the podium,” Sigourney said, “The girls are all crushing it and I’m just stoked to be riding at this level and with girls.”
Bowman scores his very first World Cup win, while Ferreira clinches the globe
Over in the men’s event it was Noah Bowman who claimed the first victory of his career, scoring 94.20 points for a near-perfect run that included a switch dub 10 and a switch alley-oop dub flatspin 900.
Respected among the riders and the freeski community for his style and technical wizardry, Bowman had managed to land on the World Cup podium four times before in his more than 9 years on tour, but on Thursday finally took top spot in what was an extraordinary competition, and the victory at the season’s grand finale in Tignes had him on cloud nine.
“It’s so unbelievable right now,” Bowman said, “I’ve had a bit of a rough week and it’s been just such a big season. It took a lot of effort for this final push here and I was really not expecting to take the win so it’s amazing.”
Coming behind Bowman in second was Alex Ferreira (USA) who finished the competition with 92.20 points to add an additional 80 points to his season total to clinch the halfpipe World Cup crystal globe, outscoring his teammate and main competitor for the title David Wise (USA) 362 to 279.
“I can’t believe it man, the globe is mine” Ferreira said, “To compete in Tignes is like the best thing in the World, the energy and the excitement that everyone brings is so fired up and it’s so cool to be a part of all this. And the globe is just the cherry on top.”
The Olympic gold medallist from PyeongChang, Wise topped the qualifications on Wednesday to make the battle for the globe a highly entertaining one, however he was not able to land a clean run on Thursday night and, with his ninth-place finish on the day, he had to settle for the second overall spot.
Simon d’Artois (CAN) rounded out the men’s podium on third with 89.20 points for his third World Cup podium finish this season.
“It’s the best event of the year and it’s the most fun,” d’Artois said, “Having kind of a rough middle of the season after coming in with two podiums, but to end it off with another podium feels great.”
The FIS Freeski World Cup action continues this weekend with the final competition of the season taking on the big air ramp at the Jamboree event in Quebec City (CAN).
QUICK LINKS
)
)
)
