Anna Gasser to sit out Moenchengladbach Big Air

No chance for three in a row: Austrian big air superstar Anna Gasser has decided to take a break in order to give her injured foot a rest allowing him to fully recover.

The current World Cup leader therefore will miss the chance to successfully defend her 2016 ARAG Big Air Festival title in Moenchengladbach.

The 26-year-old reigning World Champion who had celebrated back-to-back wins in Milan and Beijing this month, had bruised her right ankle during a training accident in Thursday's Air + Style training session.

While Gasser managed to somehow compete in the finals, she now want's to take it slowly as she has to wait until the sustained haematoma which currently hinders her from training has eased.

“I'm so sorry that I won't be able to start in Moenchengladbach. I have only good memories. The perfect organisation and huge spectator interest definitely made the Big Air there to one of our highlights on the tour,” she said.

“I was able to fight the pain in Beijing although I already had to change my spin directions from backside to frontside as landing a backside trick was too painful. But now, with the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in mind, I don't want to take too much of a risk and won't start to snowboard again until my injury has fully healed.”

An ideal recovery given, Gasser might be able to join the World Cup tour for the fourth big air event of the season which is slated to take place in Copper Mountain, USA on December 8 and 10, 2017.