KREISCHBERG, Austria (Jan. 21, 2015)—Olympian Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, AK) dominated the slopestyle snowboarding field to take home his first ever FIS World Championship title, while teammate Kyle Mack (West Bloomfield, MI) earned bronze.
In a three run best-of format, Stassel showed the world that he meant business on Kreischberg’s six-feature course earning the two highest scores of the day. Stassel was the only rider in the field to land three 1260s, including a frontside double cork 1260 off the first jump, which earned him one of the highest scores in World Championships history (97.50). “I'm speechless,” said Stassel, after the event. “I have been working on that run for a long time and it feels really good to finally pull it all together here at the World Championships.”
Stassel’s performance was more than enough to beat out 2013 World Champion Roppe Tonterri of Finland, who took home the silver. 17-year-old Mack put down two 1260s and frontside double 1080 to earn his first World Championships medal.
Stassel shreds to first place in the World Championships slopestyle. (Getty Images-AFP/Michal Cizek)
On the women’s side, Miyabi Onitsuka from Japan took first, Anna Gasser from Austria second and Klaudia Medlova from Slovakia third.
Coverage from Wednesday’s event airs on Universal Sports at 6:00 p.m. EST. World Championships snowboarding action continues Thursday with parallel slalom finals streamed live on Universal Sports at 12pm EST.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Stassel’s gold medal run: hardway backside 270, 50/50 backside rodeo, frontside 1260 double cork, switch backside 1260, frontside boardslide 270 out, backside 1260.
- Tonteri’s silver medal run: cab 270 to backside boardslide, halfcab to 50/50 to backside 360 out, frontside 1080 inverted, backside 1260 double cork, halfcab to 50/50 to backside 180 out, cab 1440.
- Mack’s bronze medal run: frontside boardslide, 50/50 to frontside 360 out, frontside 1260, switch backside 1260, frontside 360 bonk, backside 1080 double cork.
- Fans can watch the slopestyle snowboarding finals on Universal Sports at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Mack grabs a podium spot Kreischberg, Austria. (Getty Images-AFP/Michel Cizek)
QUOTES
Ryan Stassle
I was pretty nervous on top, but once you drop in it turns into excitement and you just ride. I'm speechless. I have been working on that run for a long time and it feels really good to finally pull it all together here at the World Championships. I don't even know what that title means to me. I haven’t even thought about it.
Results
Men's slopestyle results
Women's slopestyle results
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