Gremaud And Ruud On Top In Modena Skipass Big Air
The 25th anniversary of the Modena Skipass winter sport and tourism festival closed out with a bang on Sunday night, as the northern hemisphere’s first FIS Freeski big air World Cup of 2018/19 saw some of the sport’s brightest stars putting on a standout show on the massive Modena big air ramp. And, when it was all said and done, it would be 18-year-olds Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) and Birk Ruud (NOR) both walking away with the second victories of their respective World Cup careers.
Sunday’s event was the first competitive action for Gremaud since her and her teammate Sarah Hoefflin went one-two at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games slopestyle contest, where Hoefflin took the gold and Gremaud the silver in what was a remarkable day for the Swiss Freeski team.
Despite the nearly nine-month layoff, Gremaud showed no signs of rust on Sunday, qualifying in first place and then stomping a picture-perfect right-side bio 900 safety on first jump. After falling on her second jump, Gremaud needed a clean final run to climb onto the podium, and she delivered just that, landing a switch left-side 720 mute in the final ladies’ jump of the competitions to earn a combined score of 172.50, her second World Cup win, and her fifth podium in just 10 career events.
“I was so excited at the top before my final jump,” said a smiling Gremaud before the awards ceremony, “It was like, ‘I just want to land this, even if I don’t win.’ But I had a good feeling and I did land and to win this comp was really cool.”
Reversing the roles of their Olympic result, Hoefflin would finish runner-up to her younger teammate Gremaud on Sunday, landing cleanly a switch left 720 safety followed by a switch right 720 mute on her first two runs, but scrubbed her landing on her final hit leaving her with 160.25 points and well back of Gremaud.
“I’m super happy for Mathilde,” said Hoefflin, “It’s cool to be on the podium with her again. I didn’t really expect to be on the podium today because I thought I would keep it mellow, but I’m happy to get it.”
Third place on the day went to Kea Kuehnel (GER), as the 27-year-old earned her second career World Cup podium on the strength of a left corked 720 tail grab and right rodeo 720 safety one-two punch that gave her a score of 159.00.
Fourth place on the day went to Elena Gaskell (CAN), who was able to hold on to the yellow big air World Cup leader’s bib with 150 points through two events in 2018/19.
