Canadian freestyle skiers Naomi Urness and Dylan Deschamps clinched silver medals at the World Cup season opener for big air skiing held in Secret Garden, China. Urness, a 21-year-old athlete from Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, secured her first-ever World Cup medal with a combined score of 165.75 over two runs.
In the women’s event, Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir claimed the gold medal with a total score of 174.50 points, highlighted by an impressive first run earning 91.75 points. Chinese skier Liu Mengting rounded off the podium with a bronze medal at 165.25 points.
On the men’s side, Quebec City’s Deschamps, aged 22, secured the silver medal with a combined score of 178.50. The event was won by American Troy Podmilsak with a score of 185.50, while New Zealand’s Luca Harrington secured the bronze with 176.00 points.
Additionally, the competition included a snowboard big air event where Canadian teenager Eli Bouchard narrowly missed the podium, finishing in fourth place with 153.75 points. Chinese athletes Su Yiming and Ge Chunyu claimed gold and silver in the men’s event, while Japan’s Ryoma Kimata took the bronze.
In the women’s snowboard event, Japanese skiers dominated the podium, with Mari Fukada winning the event, followed by Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka in the silver and bronze positions, respectively.