Move over, partner. There’s a new sheriff in town, and he’s just 16 years old.
U.S. rookie Oliver Martin took home his first FIS World Cup Slopestyle win at Calgary’s Snow Rodeo contest, thanks to a final run that featured a double cork 1440. That run gave him a score of 80.60, and teammate Red Gerard was the only rider who got anywhere near that score.
“It feels amazing, I couldn’t be more happy," Martin told U.S. Ski and Snowboard after the contest. "I didn’t think I was going to do this well today in such a stacked field, but I’m so happy and proud of my riding. Waiting for the other riders to drop was super stressful, especially because of how good everyone is, so I’m just stoked to be on the podium and it makes it even better that it’s a win. So cool being up there with Red, too.”
Nine riders, including American teammates Fynn Bullock, Judd Henkes, Sean FitzSimons, Jake Canter, and Dusty Henricsen, all had a chance to knock Martin off of the podium, but he and Gerard’s scores of 80.60 and 78.63, respectively, held strong to allow them to finish one-two on the podium. Norway’s Markus Kleveland finished in third place.
On the women’s side of things, Japanese rider Mari Fukada scored a 77.58 to take home the top spot. Germany’s Annika Morgan found the podium for her first time this season. She pieced together a run that featured a switch boardslide pretzel, boardslide 270, and gap to boardslide pretzel through a kink rail. She capped that with a cab double underflip 900, backside 1080 and frontside 360. That resulted in a score of 76.30.
“So, so, so stoked on this one,” Morgan said via Instagram. “Had so much fun riding this course and congrats to the girlies. Muchas gracias Calgary. On to the next one in Absolutpark Flachauwinkl.”
Mia Brookes took home a third-place finish, after laying down a run that featured several frontside boardslide pretzels, a switch backside boardslide, then a couple of 900s and a 360. Thanks to her performance, which resulted in a score of 74.08, she has now squeaked ahead of Kokomo Murase in the FIS women’s slopestyle rankings.
It’s the latest development in a red-hot winter for the British rider. In true rodeo fashion, Brookes competed the entire time in a denim jacket.
This clearly wasn’t her first rodeo.
Related: Inaugural Snow League Season Announces Stops in Switzerland and China
