FREESTYLE SKI. The halfpipe finals went down in style on Saturday at the Utah 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, with Kelly Sildaru (EST) and Aaron Blunck (USA) putting down incredible third runs to earn gold medals in what was one the most exciting halfpipe competitions in history of the FIS Freeski events.

Aaron Blunck of USA wins the gold medal during the FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships Men's and Women's Halfpipe on February 9, 2019 in Park City, USA. (Photo by Laurent Salino/Agence Zoom)

With a perfectly-shaped superpipe and all world’s best athletes on hand at Park City, the final event on the freeski side of the Utah 2019 World Champs delivered an extraordinary show. Big tricks were stomped run after run and the level of riding was arguably the best we’ve ever witnessed at a FIS-sanctioned halfpipe competitions.

In the ladies’ competition the Estonian wunderkind Kelly Sildaru was on an a mission on Saturday, upping her level from run to run as she pushed for gold, eventually becoming the youngest halfpipe World Champion of all time when she stomped her third and final run.

Kelly Sildaru of Estonia wins the gold medal during the FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships Men's and Women's Halfpipe on February 9, 2019 in Park City, USA. (Photo by Laurent Salino/Agence Zoom)

Sitting in third-place before dropping in for her gold medal-winning effort, the 16-year-old freeskier from Tallinn decided to throw everything she had left in tank, putting down the first switch 1080 ever performed in competition by a female rider on her last hit. Fittingly, the judges rewarded her in a big way, with a high score of 95.00 points.

Back at the top of the pipe still to drop in was top qualifier and reigning Olympic champion Cassie Sharpe, who had been throwing the biggest and most stylish runs of the competition up to that point. However, the Canadian halfpipe legend wasn’t quite able to land her top trick clean and, knowing she wouldn’t be able to match Sildaru’s score, gave up on her run, leaving Sildaru walk away with the victory.

“I still can’t believe it” said rejoiced Sildaru “I wasn’t sure if I should go for a switch 1080, because I simply haven’t tried it before and I didn’t know if I was going to land it. I decided to save it for my last run and I did it. I’m shaking right now, because I’m so happy.”

Sharpe had to settle for the second spot on the day for her second FIS World Championships medal, while the US favourite Brita Sigourney rounded out the ladies’ podium in third.

Things were equally exciting over on the men’s side with huge tricks making the enthusiastic Park City crowd go wild from first to final run of the day.

It was Kevin Rolland who set the bar high in the first run with his trademark massive airs and taking the lead early on with a score of 93.80.

Kevin Rolland of France wins the silver medal during the FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships Men's and Women's Halfpipe on February 9, 2019 in Park City, USA. (Photo by Laurent Salino/Agence Zoom)

But it was Aaron Blunck who was pushed by his family, friends and a vast group of fans that gathered to cheer on him and his US teammates, as the reigning World Champion from Sierra Nevada 2017 went all-in on his third and final run, with back-to-back-to-back-to-back doubles, including a massive 1440 tail on his second-to-last hit. With a high score of 94.20 Blunck defended his 2017 world championships title and claimed Utah 2019 gold on home turf.

“I’m on cloud nine right now,” said Blunck, with a note of relief in his voice, “The X-Games didn’t go my way so I just wanted to come here and redeem myself. We’ve got to ski quite a bit of powder beforehand and I really think that was a recipe for success. I was happy and I was having fun the whole time. “

“The Park City crowd is always so good and it’s definitely one of the biggest events of the year. Everyone from Park City and Salt Lake comes out for this. They’re huge ski and snowboard fans.”

The silver medal went to Kevin Rolland, as the 29-year-old veteran snagged his career’s fourth world championships spot on the podium, while the Canadian style master Noah Bowman finished the competition in third.

FIS freestyle
10 Feb 2019

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