Ledeux wins historic 16th World Cup as Frostad reaches new heights in big air
Dec 01, 2024·Freeski Park & Pipe
French skier Tess Ledeux has set a new record for the most FIS Freeski World Cup titles after landing her 16th victory in Beijing with a big air win.
The 23-year-old on Sunday landed her first two runs on the iconic Shougang Park jump to win the FIS Freeski World Cup in big air with a score of 168.25 points.
Ledeux scored 82 for her first run before her left double 1260 mute in the second run earned her a score of 86.25 to put her in pole position with a total of 168.25 points.
Second-place honours went to Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), followed by Flora Tabanelli (ITA) in third place after they scored 163 and 159.50 respectively.
Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud finished just outside the podium in fourth place despite landing the highest score of the day with a second-run score of 94.25 for her left nose butter double 1260 safety.
The world-first trick earned Gremaud applause from all skiers but was not enough to make up for her low-scoring first and third runs.
Ledeux’s win on Sunday follows her slopestyle victory at Stubai, Austria last week and puts her ahead of double Olympic champion Eileen Gu (CHN) for the most victories in FIS Freeski World Cup history ever.
On the men’s side, Norway’s Tormod Frostad secured victory thanks to a high-scoring switch right tail butter double bio 1440 safety in his third run which received a score of 92 from the judges.
Combined with a first-run score of 91, the Norwegian’s total of 183.00 put him just 0.75 points ahead of Italian Miro Tabanelli’s score of 182.25.
The 22-year-old said the calibre of competition on Sunday and conditions on the Shougang Park big air jump pushed everyone to try new tricks.
Canada’s Dylan Deschamps finished third on Sunday with a score of 181.00.
Frostad’s big air victory is his first World Cup win and comes a week after he finished third at the slopestyle World Cup in Stubai. In October the Norwegian opened his 2024/25 World Cup season with second place at Big Air Chur.
After four events, Frostad and Ledeux now lead the overall FIS Freeski Park and Pipe World Cup standings.
FACTS & FIGURES
Tess Ledeux (FRA) has 16 FIS Freeski World Cup wins: 12 in slopestyle, four in big air.
Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) has won nine big air World Cup events out of a total of 13 podium finishes.
Birk Ruud (NOR) has won six big air World Cup events out of a total of 12 podiums.
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