Mohr and Beatty close out big day with JWC freeski slopestyle golds in Cardrona
Aug 30, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
It was a long but exciting day of slopestyle competition at the Cardrona 2023 FIS Park & Pipe Junior World Championships, where we saw Germany’s Muriel Mohr and Canada’s Charlie Beatty stepping up with storming final runs to earn impressive gold medals.
After snowboard competition opened the day in explosive fashion on Wednesday morning - broadcast as part of the debut of the new FIS TV platform - the in-arena TV feed became an issue on Wednesday afternoon just before the freeski finals when a course-side cable was damaged, knocking out the live feed to the judges.
However, once the problem was solved it was straight into competition, where we saw some exceptional skiing throughout the afternoon.
MOHR MAKES THIRD JWC MEDAL GOLDEN
16-year-old Mohr has four World Cup starts to her name in her young career, and that experience - along with her two previous JWC silver medals - seemed to help in Wedneday’s slopestyle action, as she was able to stomp a steady first run before upping the ante in run two to take the first slopestyle JWC gold medal for Germany in over a decade.
Starting off her run with a backside 270 out of the flatbar and then a K-fed on the down rail, through the jumps Mohr then went right side 540 mute, switch left bio 900 blunt, left corked 720 tail, and finally a big right 720 mute to cap things off for a score of 86.25 and the gold medal.
Following up Mohr to take the silver with a score of 81.25 was top qualifier Flora Tabanelli of Italy, while New Zealand’s own Mischa Thomas made the host country proud, as the 15-year-old took home bronze with a score of 78.00.
WOMEN'S PODIUM RUNS
LAST RUN HEROICS FOR CANADA’S BEATTY
Over on the men’s side we saw the final run of the entire day shake up the podium in a big way, as top qualifier Charlie Beatty of Canada moved from last to first with a heroic second effort in the face of some tough conditions.
As the day got later and cooler the speed went up several notches through the jump sections, resulting in a number of skiers overshooting the sweet spots of the landings and crashing out.
Beatty simply used all that extra speed to his advantage, going bigger than anyone else and, most crucially, stomping everything clean from top-to-bottom.
Leading off with a right 270 on to corked 450 safety off on the launch rail, Beatty then finished off the rails with a left 450 to pretzel 270 out. Through the four jumps he then put down a switch left bio 900 mute, a right bio 1080 Japan and a left double cork 1260 mute, before finishing it all off with switch right double 1440 safety.
Beatty’s gold medal-winning score of 92.25 was the only one to break to 90-point barrier on the day, and he was followed up by Switzerland’s Fadri Rhyner winning silver with a score of 87.50, and Leo Landroe of Norway taking home the bronze with a score of 85.50.
Freeski competition at the Cardrona 2023 FIS Park & Pipe Junior World Championships continues on Friday with big air qualifications, before we close out JWCs action in New Zealand with big air finals on Sunday, 3 September.
MEN'S PODIUM RUNS
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Photos (courtesy WGNZ)
