Annika Morgan had shone in qualifying, but in the final she had to bury her medal hopes after a fall. The Austrian Anna Gasser became world champion.
Snowboarder Annika Morgan had raised hopes for the Big Air World Cup final with a strong qualification. The native of Mittenwald convinced in both rounds of the qualification in Bakuriani, Georgia. She stood both her backside 1080 and frontside 1080.
But she didn’t want to succeed in the final. In the first run she showed the backside 1080 and had big problems landing. In the second run, the 21-year-old risked too much on the frontside 1080 and fell. Morgan was able to stand the third attempt, but had both hands in the snow. That gave point deductions. The Mittenwald native finished the competition in sixth place. “It’s not that bad, but a podium would have been nice”said Morgan, who still had her best result in a major event.
Double Olympic champion becomes world champion
The final was brought forward from Sunday to Saturday due to unpredictable weather conditions. The conditions weren’t easy though, the snow was soft, it was snowing and the wind was picking up – many snowboarders couldn’t stand their jumps.
The two-time Olympic champion in Big Air Anna Gasser was once again convincing in the women’s category. The Austrian secured gold ahead of former world champion Miyabi Onitsuka from Japan. Bronze went to Australia’s Tess Coady.
Men’s big air final without German participation
The men’s big air final took place without German participation. Noah Vicktor and Moritz Breu failed to qualify. Taiga Hasegawa from Japan became world champion. Mons Roisland from Norway took silver. Switzerland’s Nicolas Huber won bronze.