Leysin 2022 Park & Pipe Junior World Championships recap

The Leysin 2022 FIS Park & Pipe Junior World Championships wrapped up on Sunday in Switzerland, with freeski and snowboard slopestyle competitions capping off what was an incredible week of riding by the world’s best young rippers at an exceptional venue.

With the Leysin slopestyle course, big air jump and halfpipe all perfectly sculpted for this week’s action and perfect sunny and warm weather throughout, vibes were at an all-time high at the 2022 Junior World Championships, and the level of riding we saw from the riders on hand was quite possibly the highest it’s ever been at a JWCs.

As expected, young riders already boasting some World Cup and/or Olympic experience scored many of the medals up for grabs, but there were some lesser-knowns who also made their presence felt, grabbing podiums and showing that they’re ready to step up to the next level.

The standout squad for freeski competition was the USA, who claimed nine of the 18 medals up for grabs, lead by Troy Podmilsak and his golds in both big air and slopestyle, and 15-year-old Kathryn Gray who claimed a medal in all three of the pipe, slope and big air events. Matthew Labaugh, meanwhile, pulled off the difficult task of scoring a silver medal in both halfpipe and slopestyle for the US team.

On the snowboard side of things the medals were a little more evenly distributed, though the Japanese team did have an edge in total podiums with five between their women’s and men’s squads, including the women’s slopestyle gold medal for Yura Murase and two medals for Chihiro Edamatsu.

The only nation to win two golds in snowboarding at the Leysin JWCs was Korea, who swept the top of the halfpipe podium in the first competition of the week with Gaon Choi and Chaeun Lee earning the respective women’s and men’s titles. Showing off his all-around strength, Lee also claimed bronze in the big air competition two days later.

Mia Brookes of Great Britain also claimed two medals, taking the big air win and slopestyle silver.

Huge thanks to Leysin for putting on what was an absolutely top-tier event, congrats to all the podium athletes, and much respect to all the freeskiers and snowboarders on hand for making this such a special junior worlds.

Check out the full list of all Leysin 2022 podium winners below:

FREESKI

Halfpipe women:

Gold - Daeun Kim (KOR)

Silver - Kathryn Gray (USA)

Bronze - Piper Arnold (USA)

Halfpipe men:

Gold - Gustav Legnavsky (NZL)

Silver - Matthew Labaugh (USA)

Bronze - Ben Fethke (USA)

Big air women:

Gold - Bryn Johnston (CAN)

Silver - Kathryn Gray (USA)

Bronze - Jade Michaud (FRA)

Big air men:

Gold - Troy Podmilsak (USA)

Silver - Luca Harrington (NZL)

Bronze - Leo Landroe (NOR)

Slopestyle women:

Gold - Ruby Andrews (NZL)

Silver - Jade Michaud (FRA)

Bronze - Kathryn Gray (USA)

Slopestyle men:

Gold - Troy Podmilsak (USA)

Silver - Matthew Labaugh (USA)

Bronze - Axel Burmansson (SWE)

Find full freeski results HERE

SNOWBOARD

Halfpipe women:

Gold - Gaon Choi (KOR)

Silver - Bea Kim (USA)

Bronze - Brooke D’Hondt (CAN)

Halfpipe men:

Gold - Chaeun Lee (KOR)

Silver - Shuichiro Shigeno (JPN)

Bronze - Jonas Hasler (SUI)

Big air women:

Gold - Mia Brookes (GBR)

Silver - Chihiro Edamatsu (JPN)

Bronze - Melissa Peperkamp (NED)

Big air men:

Gold - Eric Dovjak (AUT)

Silver - Taiga Hasegawa (JPN)

Bronze - Chaeun Lee (KOR)

Slopestyle women:

Gold - Yura Murase (JPN)

Silver - Mia Brookes (GBR)

Bronze - Chihiro Edamatsu (JPN)

Slopestyle men:

Gold - Cameron Spalding (CAN)

Silver - Campbell Melville Ives (NZL)

Bronze - Fynn Bullock-Womble (USA)

Find full snowboard results HERE