Everyone was watching halfpipe star Chloe Kim at the Snowboard World Cup in Copper Mountain – but in the end, teenager Sara Shimizu from Japan surprised the audience.
The American snowboarder Chloe Kim skipped the first Halfpipe World Cup of the season. The competition in Secret Garden in China took place without her, she wanted to be home in the USA, more precisely in Copper Mountain start the season in Colorado. And in the best case scenario, win there on Friday evening (December 20th, 2024).
Kim is one of the stars of the scene, only a few have the tricks and twirls high above her Half pipe as into it as she is. The 24-year-old from Long Beach won gold in the halfpipe at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. When she starts, everyone looks into the gutter, spellbound. It was the same on Friday – but then 15-year-old Japanese Sara Shimizu surprised everyone.
Shimizu surprisingly wins her second World Cup
Kim showed the most beautiful tricks from the first run, but at the end of the run she made a small mistake that was emblematic of this performance at home: she was careless, fell while riding in front of the home audience – and was punished for it by the jury. She wasn’t able to really improve later. Kim finished fourth with 86.75 points.
Instead, someone else shone: Sara Shimizu won with 90.50 points – because she remained completely blameless in only her second World Cup, didn’t make any mistakes and made very clean ones Grabs convinced. So after fifth place in Secret Garden she achieved her first success, a surprisingly strong development. She won ahead of China’s Cai Xuetong (88.50) and Japan’s Mitsuki Ono (88.00).
The only German starter, Leilani Ettel, came ninth
A German starter also made it to the final: Leilani Ettel. The 23-year-old from Pullach near Munich ended up ninth because she couldn’t really come to terms with this halfpipe. She was no longer able to compete in the final run.
A Japanese also wins among the men
The men also took part in the second World Cup of the season in Copper Mountain, but without German participation in the final – Christoph Lechner failed to qualify on Wednesday. And a Japanese also won the men’s race on Friday: Ayumu Hirano thanks to a formidable third run that earned him 97.00 points. Very close to the maximum performance of 100.
Hirano led a Japanese podium trio. Ultimately he won ahead of Yuto Tutsoka (94.75), who had already won the World Cup opener in Secret Garden, and his next compatriot Ruka Hirano (92.75). Like Kim, the Australian Scotty James only finished fourth in Copper Mountain.