ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — The world freestyle skiing and snowboard championships witnessed a thrilling day on Friday as five Olympic champions stood atop the podium in their respective events, heralding an exciting run-up to the next Winter Games. A strategic reshuffling of schedules to circumvent adverse weather anticipated for the weekend led to a bustling day with eight finals.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott expanded her legacy by securing her third world gold medal in snowboard slopestyle, adding to the Olympic crown she claimed in Beijing in 2022. The competition saw Canada’s Liam Brearley attain his inaugural world championship gold in the same category, surpassing Beijing’s silver medalist Su Yiming from China, who again settled for second place.
In an all-American showdown in the dual moguls, Jaelin Kauf of the United States edged out her compatriot Tess Johnson with a score of 21 points to 14, adding another accolade to her silver finish in the moguls at the 2022 Olympics. Notably, dual moguls, where two skiers compete side by side down the slope, will debut at the Winter Olympics next year.
Mikael Kingsbury from Canada, despite an earlier miss in securing a fourth consecutive world moguls title to Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, turned the tables on Friday. Kingsbury clinched his fifth career world gold and a fourth consecutive win in dual moguls, defeating Horishima in a thrilling final showdown.
The host nation, Switzerland, had reason to celebrate as three of their athletes bagged golds. Mathilde Gremaud claimed her second world gold medal in women’s ski slopestyle, while ski cross victors included Fanny Smith, who last tasted world championship success in 2013, and Ryan Regez.
Additionally, Norway’s Birk Ruud, who claimed big air glory at the 2022 Olympics, continued his triumphant streak by winning the men’s ski slopestyle.