Gasser and Su mirror Olympic triumphs with wins at Beijing big air World Cup
Dec 02, 2023·Snowboard Park & Pipe
A massive day of big air competition at the world’s most massive big air venue wrapped up with snowboard finals on Saturday, where the reigning Olympic champions Anna Gasser (AUT) and Su Yiming (CHN) threw down for an encore performance at the venue where they triumphed just under two years ago at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, taking the respective women’s and men’s victories at the 2023/24 Beijing big air World Cup.
With the incredible Shougang Park jump in prime condition and a top-to-bottom roster of some of the absolute best snowboarders on the planet on hand and stomping a mind-bending array of tricks in the pre-finals practice session, the feeling of something special about to go down was in the air.
GASSER REPEATS OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE FOR 12TH WORLD CUP VICTORY
In the women’s competition that meant that we saw back-to-back Olympic champion (as well as reigning World Champion) Anna Gasser pushed to her limits - if not necessarily in her trick selection, then definitely in her nerves.
Gasser crashed hard on her first run attempt at the same cab double cork 1260 melon that put her into top spot back at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, rattling her body and her strategy for the competition in the process.
With the likes Tess Coady (AUS), Mia Brookes (GBR) and Reira Iwabuchi (JPN) stomping exceptional first runs, the pressure to step up was on Gasser in a much bigger way than she probably anticipated. However, the Austrian superstar is considered to be one of the absolute greatest snowboarders of all time for a reason, and on Saturday she added to her legacy once again.
On run two she put the cab dub 12 down clean - maybe not as stylish as she would have liked or as she was doing it in training, but clean nonetheless - and she then followed that up with a backside double 1080 melon in run three to jump into top spot with a total score of 174.00, mirroring her winning trick repertoire from Beijing 2022 and redirecting the pressure to the riders dropping behind her in the process.
With her cab 1260 weddle grab in run two, Miyabi Onitsuka had the highest scoring single run of the evening, however her backside double cork 1080 drunk driver in run three would leave her sitting in second behind Gasser with a score of 170.50 and just one rider left to drop.
That rider was Coady, and while she put it down clean on her frontside 1080 double tail grab - a never-been-done in competition trick - when added to her backside double cork 1080 melon from run one she would jump just ahead of Onitsuka but fall just short of Gasser, finishing with a score of 171.00 and second place.
“It feels so good to be back in Beijing,” Gasser said when the dust had settled, “I think I like this jump. I think I did the same tricks as I did two years ago when I won the gold medal, but the level from the girls was so high. I messed up in my first run (on the cab 1260) and it shook me up a bit, and the second run I did it but not as good as I normally do it. I hope next time I can do it a little better. Sometimes you compete for points and sometimes you compete to show your best, and I hope next time I can show my best.”
THE KING OF SHOUGANG SU TRIUMPHANT IN RETURN TO WORLD CUP
The men’s competition saw a triumphant return to World Cup competition of Su Yiming - China’s national snowboard hero and one of the most jaw-droppingly explosive and exciting riders to come on the scene in a generation.
The top qualifier from Friday and the man the thousands of spectators at Shougang had come to see did not disappoint on Saturday, riding like a man in complete control of his own destiny despite the fact he had enjoyed next to no competition reps in almost two year.s
Su started off his evening with a massive, near-perfect switch backside 1800 melon grab - a trick he had just learned a couple of days previous in training here in Beijing - to earn a score of 89.00.
He then followed that up in run two with an even bigger backside 1980 Indy, earning a score of 95.50 to give himself a combined score of 184.50 and a nearly impossible lead heading into the third run.
While the rest of the field gave it everything they could in their third runs, only Japan’s Ryoma Kimata and Kira Kimura were able to stomp clean and up their scores.
For Kimata that meant dropping second to last and adding a third-run frontside 1800 double tail grab to his backside 1980 melon from one run. However, while both his tricks were close comparables to Su’s, Kimata would end up with a score of 180.75 and have to settle for second place.
“I was having so many emotions with my coach at the top before my last run,” Su said from the finish area after his victory lap third run, “The same spot I was standing before I won my gold medal. We had the same plan as at the Olympics, have two good runs and then I don’t really have to try something crazy on the last run. It feels so good to win my first comp back since the Olympics and I’m very grateful."
While Su and Kimata would finish ahead of him on the podium, the unofficial MVP award of the night went to Kimura, who threw down an obscene trick in run three - a switch backside quad cork 1980 Weddle that had never been landed in competition. While it was bar none the gnarliest trick of the evening, a hand touch and instability in the landing meant that Kimura would have to settle for a 92.50 for the trick. Add it up with his backside 1800 Indy from run one and you got a total of 175.75 and third place.
One other note on Kimura: the 19-year-old has now started in three World Cups in his career, and has hit the podium in every one of those. On top of that, he’s now leading the men’s Park & Pipe World Cup standings at this early stage in the season. It’s unbelievable stuff we’re seeing from the newcomer and just another reason why the Japanese Snowboard Team is the de facto best in the world right now.
From Beijing the FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup switches gears as we look forward to our first halfpipe competition of the year, as we move north west to Secret Garden for halfpipe competition slated to go down from 06-08 December.
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