SIERRA NEVADA, Spain (Mar. 19, 2017) — American skiers took the top two spots in the men’s slopestyle competition at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Sierra Nevada on Sunday with McRae Williams (Park City, UT) winning gold and Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) silver.
After a few bad weather days with high winds and difficult snow conditions, Sunday morning was bright and sunny.
The win capped off a banner season for Williams, who won the World Cup event at Font Romeu, earned a silver medal at X Games Norway and walked away with the FIS slopestyle crystal globe. James Woods of Great Britain rounded out the podium in third.
McRae Williams skis to gold. (Getty Images/Agence Zoom-Laurent Salino)
Williams was sitting in third after the second run and went all-out in his third run, sending a massive switch triple 1440, a clean and stylish series of doubles and technical tricks on rails to score 93.80 points and the gold. "I just can't believe it at this point," Mcrae said. "I was just super happy to take the World Cup crystal globe and all the other podiums I had this year. This was the most consistent season in my career. I was really pushing for it to end it this way and it's obviously an honor to be here today and I just couldn't be more happy."
Woods was leading after first run and Kenworthy also stepped it up with a stellar third run for a total score of 91.80 points and the silver medal.
Devin Logan (West Dover, VT) was the top American finisher for the women, finishing sixth after earning bronze in halfpipe the night before. Tess Ledeux of France won - the youngest world champion in FIS Freestyle Skiing history. Swede Emma Dahlstrom was second and Isabel Atkin of Great Britain was third.
Alex Hall (Park City, UT) was ninth; Taylor Lundquist was 16th; Maggie Voisin did not start.
Gus Kenworthy took silver at the Sierra Nevada World Championships. (Getty Images/Agence Zoom-Laurent Salino)
HIGHLIGHTS
- McRae Williams won gold for the men. His third run scored 93.80.
- Gus Kenworthy earned silver for the men. His third run scored 91.80.
RESULTS
Men’s Slopestyle
Women’s Slopestyle
