BRISBANE SHINES AT FIRST EVER WATER JUMP GRAND PRIX
Published Sat 09 Sep 2023
A glorious Brisbane day greeted competitors for the final of the FIS Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series, with competitors from Australia, Switzerland and Ukraine taking part.
The Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre at Sleeman Sports Complex hosted the final round of the Series which launched earlier this year with the opening two rounds taking place in USA and Switzerland.
Australian Airleigh Frigo took out today’s Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix, with a score of 85.36. The 24 year old finished ahead of fellow Aussie team mate Abbey Willcox (79.69) and Ukraine’s Diana Yablonska (68.44).
With today’s competition the first time in almost 20 years the Aussies have had the chance to compete on home soil, Frigo couldn’t be happier.
“It felt amazing, it was the first win for me in an Aerials competition and it was great to do it on home soil,” said Frigo.
“I train here all year round so I really know the facility and I think that was a huge advantage.
“It’s a great place to train, the weather is always great… hopefully there are more [events] to come in the future.
“With this facility we are able to train more and more often and get our jumps really good so when the winter comes it’ll all carry through.
“I’ll now finish off the water ramping season and then head overseas to start competing in World Cups. We’ll be overseas until about March,” she said.
Missing from today’s line up was triple Olympian Laura Peel, who sadly sustained a calf injury during yesterday’s training. Despite not lining up, Peel took second overall in the Series.
In the men’s it came down to Switzerland's Pirmin Werner and Noe Roth. Roth was the last athlete on course and favored to win the day and the Series crown. But on his last run he lost a ski mid air and while the rules permitted a rerun, it wasn’t enough to secure the win over his teammate Werner.
Werner said: “It feels amazing, it’s always nice when you win. It’s my second time here in Australia. We were here last year for a training camp and then our winter season was pretty successful so we decided to come again.”
Hundreds of fans turned out to watch the showcase event, with Werner admitting it added to the festivities.
“It’s always nice when you have a crowd. I would love to come next year to compete. It’s awesome here, we always have a good time and the weather is awesome, and we can do a lot of good and difficult jumps,” he said.
Today’s event capped off the inaugural FIS Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series, with competitors set to return to training and finalise preparations ahead of the World Cup season in the northern hemisphere.
For full results from today’s competition - click here.
MEDALISTS I Brisbane Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series
Women
- Airleigh Frigo (AUS) 85.36
- Abbey Willcox (AUS) 79.69
- Diana Yablonska (UKR) 68.44
Men
- Pirmin Werner (SUI) 146.37
- Dmytro Kotovskyi (UKR) 122.62
- Oleksandr Okipniuk (UKR) 120.00
