Japan’s Kokomo Murase secured the gold medal in the opening round of the Snowboarding Slopestyle World Cup at Cardrona Alpine Resort on New Zealand’s South Island this past week.
The final, which was scheduled for Monday, was canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions, but Murase’s impressive qualifying score of 78.10 from Saturday was enough to ensure her victory. This result saw her finish ahead of Britain’s equally impressive Mia Brookes, who earned silver with a score of 71.65, and the United States’ Rebecca Flynn, who took bronze with 57.58 points. The event marks a significant achievement for the 19-year-old Murase, as it is her fourth World Cup slope style title and her seventh overall victory in World Cup competitions, including big air events.
Olympic Big Air bronze medalist Murase’s victory adds to her growing list of accolades as she continues to make her mark in international snowboarding. Olympic champions Anna Gasser and New Zealand’s Zoe Sadowski-Synnott had tougher outings, finishing in fifth (53.30) and eighth (50.10), respectively.
Japan also saw strong performances from other athletes, with Reira Iwabuchi finishing just outside the podium in fourth place, and Mari Fukada placing seventh in the women’s event. In the men's competition, Japan’s Kira Kimura delivered a solid performance to secure fifth place, while Canada’s Cameron Spalding took home the gold.
It is an exciting beginning to this year's competition circuit, and we can not wait to see what is to come!