Brookes bests Gasser on home snow as Bouchard claims career first in Flachau Slopestyle
Mar 21, 2026·Snowboard Park & Pipe:format(webp))
British teenager Mia Brookes beat Austrian snowboard icon Anna Gasser on Gasser’s home snow at Flachau (AUT) on Saturday, to add a second Slopestyle World Cup victory to her career record.
In the men’s field, Canada’s Eli Bouchard dominated the 14-man final to claim his maiden Slopestyle World Cup victory.
Nineteen-year-old Brookes was the first rider to storm to victory at Flachau’s Absolut Park on Saturday with her first-run score of 73.25.
Gasser, 34, was runner-up on 72.43, while recently crowned Slopestyle Junior World Champion Lily Dhawornvej (USA) was third on 66.61.
Brookes was the top qualifier going into Saturday’s final and maintained her position as the woman to beat after judges awarded her 72.43 for her first attempt.
The 19-year-old began her winning run with a frontside blunt stall bring back, then a switch frontside 180 on to 50-50 to backside boardslide to forward on the first rail, then a frontside lipslide 270, a 50-50 frontside 360 melon, a backside 900 melon on the first jump, and finally a cab 900 tailgrab on the final hit.
Brookes’ victory on Saturday comes after the 19-year-old narrowly missed out on a Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games medal in Big Air with fourth place. The 2024/25 overall women’s FIS Park and Pipe Crystal Globe winner also failed to qualify for the Slopestyle final at Milano Cortina 2026.
However, in her first competition action since those Games here in Flachau, Brookes claimed top spot in the AbsolutPark Spring Battle rail jam, top spot in the Spring Battle slopestyle, and then swept the week in Flachau by taking Saturday’s World Cup victory at the same venue.
The teenager said Saturday’s win capped off a good week of riding for her.
“I’m pretty stoked. The weather wasn’t the best but it was really fun (today),” said Brookes.
“Obviously the Olympics didn’t go too good, but every other comp that I was in went really well and I just had a really fun season.”
Flachau marks Brookes only Slopestyle World Cup start of the 2025/26 season after she won the Big Air World Cup in Beijing (CHN) in December. The win is Brookes’ second career Slopestyle World Cup victory after the then 18-year-old won the Laax Open in 2025.
Gasser’s second-place finish on Saturday is her second of the 2025/26 season after she was third at the Laax Open in January. Her Flachau podium is her 33rd top-three World Cup finish from 45 starts across Slopestyle and Big Air since 2013.
The two-time Olympic Big Air champion has previously said Milano Cortina 2026 was her last Games, but it is unclear when Gasser plans to stop competing on the World Cup circuit.
Meanwhile, Dhawornvej’s third-place finish on Saturday now puts the 16-year-old U.S. on top of the women’s Slopestyle standings with 169 points – just nine points ahead of Milano Cortina 2026 Big Air champion and Slopestyle bronze medalist Kokomo Murase (JPN) on 160 points. Murase did not compete in Flachau.
In the men’s final, Canada’s Eli Bouchard topped the field after setting an early benchmark first-run score of 81.11.
Bouchard began his winning run with a front flip on the wallride, then a switch backside blunt to forward on the first rail, then a frontside 180 to switch tailpress switch 180 out, a frontside lipslide 630 melon out, then a trademark a McBoutch indy on the first jump, before finishing it all off with a cab triple 1620 mute on the final feature.
Judd Henkes (USA) was runner-up on 76.91 while Japan’s Hiroto Ogiwara was third on 72.58.
Bouchard’s win on Saturday comes after the Canadian made his Olympic Winter Games debut at Milano Cortina 2026 where he finished 13th and 14th in Slopestyle and Big Air respectively.
The teenager said Saturday’s winning run came after he tried to land the same run at Spring Battle earlier this week.
“Since Spring Battle before, I tried that run so many times. I couldn’t get it properly, and then first Slopestyle final in the World Cup and on the podium. Pretty hyped about it,” said Bouchard.
Saturday’s result is Bouchard’s second career World Cup win after the teenager topped the Aspen Big Air World Cup in February 2025.
For runner-up Henkes, Flachau marks his fourth career World Cup podium, and his first top-three result in six years.
The 24-year-old last finished on a World Cup podium on home snow in February 2020 when he was third at Mammoth Mountain (USA).
Ogiwara’s third place in Flachau is the 20-year-old’s first Slopestyle World Cup podium and adds to his podium record of three Big Air victories between 2023 and 2025.
Henkes’ second-place finish in Flachau now puts him on 139 points in the men’s Slopestyle World Cup standings, one point behind Milano Cortina 2026 Slopestyle champion Su Yiming (CHN), who did not compete in Flachau.
Flachau marks the third stop of the 2025/26 FIS Slopestyle World Cup season. Silvaplana (SUI) will host the fourth and final Slopestyle contest between 25 and 29 March.
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