Eileen Gu has largely dominated the opening of the freestyle ski halfpipe World Cupon the night of Monday to Tuesday, in Cardrona (NZ). The Chinese star had a near-perfect run in the final, collecting 96 points.
The Chinese-American finished 6.75 points ahead of her compatriot Kexin Zhang and 9 points ahead of Canadian Rachael Karker. A huge gap at this level and a new world record. Never before has an athlete won so many World Cup events in freestyle skiing.
The promising Zoe van Essen, a 16-year-old Dutch-Grisons native and the only Swiss Ski athlete at the start, did not pass the qualifying stage, with her 39.25 points (19th out of 23).
In the men’s category, the podium was dominated by the North Americans. Canadian Brendan Mackay won with a score of 90, ahead of American Alex Ferreira (89.50) and another “Canuck”, Andrew Longino (87.75). Robin Briguet did not take part in the final of the top 10. The Valais native finished 18th in the qualifications, with 64.50 points on the clock. Rafael Kreienbühl from Grisons finished 26th (56.25).
2024-09-12 20:05:56