FIS: Brookes and Ogiwara make their mark

A new generation of snowboard stars has shown the world what they’re made out of, after teenagers Mia Brookes (GBR) and Hiroto Ogiwara (JPN) won the second big air contest of the FIS Snowboard World Cup season.

Seventeen-year-old Brookes was the first snowboarder to claim victory on Sunday on the Shougang Park big air jump with the highest-scoring run of the women’s competition.

The judges awarded Brookes 94.00 for the cab 1440 stalefish in her third run after the British teen managed just 52.00 for her first attempt at the same trick in her second run.

“I didn’t come in to win today, I just wanted to land my new tricks. So it’s sick to win it,” she said.

“To win this with such a heavy field is crazy.”

Brookes’ final run put her in first place with a total score of 179.75 ahead of Japanese rider Mari Fukada’s 176.75, while two-time Olympic big air champion Anna Gasser (AUT) took third place on 169.00.

Five of the women’s eight finalists were Japanese, with Miyabi Onitsuka and Reira Iwabuchi finishing in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Japan had better luck in the men’s finals on Sunday with 19-year-old Hiroto Ogiwara taking first place after stomping his first and second runs for a combined total of 169.50.

“I’m so happy. Next year I’ll stomp a 2160,” he said.

“The level (here) is so crazy. Next year maybe (even) more crazy.”

Ogiwara took the lead despite the fact that Italy’s Ian Matteoli is the first rider in competition history to stomp a 2160.

Matteoli nearly broke the scale with a score of 97.75 for his groundbreaking 2160 Weddle to tailgrab – the highest-scored run across two days of men’s and women’s competition.

Unfortunately, Matteoli’s third run score of 67.75 for his third run cab 1800 Indy to nose grab would leave him just short of his Japanese counterpart when the results were tallied, with the 19-year-old Italian finishing in second place with 165.50.

Rounding out the podium with a little history of his own was local talent Yang Wenlong (CHN) who claimed third place and the first podium of his World Cup career with a score of 159.25.