World's very best on hand for season-opening Kreischberg big air
Jan 06, 2021·Snowboard Park & Pipe
Nearly 10 months after last season came to an early and abrupt end, the FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup is finally ready to get underway with the first event of the 2020/21 season, with big air competition set to take to the skies above Kreischberg from Thursday to Saturday.
Kreischberg hasn’t seen elite-level big air action since the resort served as venue for the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships back in 2015, but despite the nearly six year gap the big Kreischberg jump is once again primed and ready to hold what is shaping up to be an extremely heavy-hitting competition under the lights at the base of the resort.
While covid-19 safety regulations mean we that this time around we won't get to see the the big, enthusiastic Austrian crowds we would typically expect, the frankly incredible list of riders on hand here in Kreischberg means that there’s still a huge level of excitement surrounding this event.
And, as this week’s action serves as the first competition of the qualification period for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the stakes are even higher than normal, as the value of every placement earned this weekend holds significance as we move towards next year’s Games.
Iwabuchi leads strong Japanese squad
Two-time reigning big air crystal globe winner Reira Iwabuchi (JPN) leads the way into the 2020/21 season opener. The 19-year-old hasn’t missed a big air finals since the beginning of the 2017/18 season, and out of those eight competitions she has five wins, which is a pretty incredible rate of conversion any way you slice it.
While Iwabuchi looms largest in World Cup competition over the past several seasons, she’ll be in tough against a field that includes the likes of reigning Olympic big air gold medallist and Austria’s favourite daughter, Anna Gasser. Gasser’s won pretty much everything there is to win in snowboarding, but you know the chance to kick the season off with a home-soil victory will be have her motivated.
Ready to drop in on her first World Cup competition in over a year will be Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), as the PyeongChang 2018 big air bronze medallist and reigning slopestyle World Champion looks for her first World Cup win since the 2016/17 season.
Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN) claimed big air gold back at the Kreischberg 2015 world champs and might be looking to call on that experience (as well as all her other big air success over the past few years) to help propel her to the win this weekend, while her and Iwabuchi’s up-and-coming teammate Kokomo Murase gives Japan the best 1-2-3 punch in the competition.
Others to watch out for on the women’s side include Laurie Blouin (CAN), Julia Marino (USA), Enni Rukijarvi (FIN), Tess Coady (AUS), and Klaudia Medlova (SVK).
Heaviest men’s World Cup field of all-time?
As with the women, over on the men’s side of things we’re looking at a one of the deepest, heaviest start lists we’ve seen in a long, long time.
Starting at the top you'll find two-time big air crystal globe winner Chris Corning (USA), who’ll be looking to start his defence of last year’s title with a big performance here in Kreischberg. With podiums in four out of four big air World Cups last season, Corning is one to watch in any competition he drops in on.
However, this Kreischberg event is shaping up to be far from your typical competition, and one need only look to the Canadian roster to be sure of that. For the first time in several years all three of the Canadian heavyweights on hand for the same World Cup event, with Mark McMorris, Max Parrot and reigning big air Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Toutant all locked and loaded and ready to go this weekend. A Canadian sweep is not out of the question here in Kreischberg.
Having said that, if you look more closely at the entry lists, you could also imagine a situation where none of those riders even hit the podiuml. Along with Corning, the US squad boasts PyeongChang 2018 big air silver medallist Kyle Mack, rising star Dusty Henrickson, Judd Henkes, Brock Crouch and a handful of others. Japan has a resurgent Tekaru Otsuka, Hiroaki Kunitake, Ruki Tobita, and more. Mons Roisland and (possibly) Marcus Kleveland are here for the Norwegians. Swedish wizard Sven Thorgren is here and looking dialled in throughout training, along with Finnish wild man Rene Rinnekangas…
The list goes on and on and we could talk up the various riders until we run out of ink. The bottom line is that the next few days are going to be hot, and you’re going to want to watch.
Action gets underway with women’s three-run qualifications on Thursday, beginning at 14:30 CET. After a break for the FIS Freeski big air World Cup on Friday, Saturday will see a packed programme that will include the men’s three-run quail beginning at 10:30, followed up by women’s and men’s finals under the lights at approximately 17:55. Six women and 10 men will qualify for finals.
QUICK LINKS:
Kreischberg data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
