At age 28, David Wise might seem to be getting a little old to be competing with teens on the FIS Freestyle World Cup tour in Halfpipe, but the 2014 and 2018 Olympic champion is still a formidable competitor.
He showed it once again in the tour stop in Calgary (CAN), putting down a first run that scored 90.00 and that no one could touch.
“Conditions were challenging, but the skiers still showed up and gave it their best here in Calgary,” said Wise. “I haven’t won a contest with my first run in a long time, so it feels like a double win for me. Stoked to share the podium with Nico and Noah, they both crushed it in tonight’s halfpipe.”
Wise won his seventh career World Cup gold, but first outside the U.S. It’s his second medal this season and he stands third in the World Cup, behind 17-year-old Nico Porteous (NZL: silver medalist) and Canada’s Simon d’Artois. The bronze medal went to Canadian Noah Bowman, another veteran at age 26. Interestingly, all three of the medalists had their best scores in the first round.
Canada’s Cassie Sharpe won the women’s Halfpipe for her sixth career win … and first ever inside Canada! She’s now third in the seasonal standings, with teammate Rachel Karker (CAN) at 210, then Kexin Zhang (CHN: 180) and Sharpe has 160.
In Ski Cross, Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund swept both races in Feldberg (GER) to get back into the season World Cup race. She now trails Swiss Fanny Smith by just 563-550 with three races left.
Heretofore unknown Ryan Regez, 26, won his first career World Cup medals in the men’s Ski Cross, winning the first race in Feldberg and finishing third in Sunday’s race. That moved him into fifth place in the season standings; Sunday winner Jean Fredric Chapuis (FRA) moved up to second with a win, but still down to countryman Bastian Midol, 496-383. Summaries:
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Moscow (RUS) ~ 16 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Aerials: 1. Stanislav Nikitin (RUS), 128.96; 2. Xindi Wang (CHN), 123.08; 3. Noe Roth (SUI), 119.91; 4. Pavel Krotov (RUS), 10.81; 5. Felix Cormier-Boucher (CAN), 88.69. Also: 6. Christopher Lillis (USA), 54.30.
Women’s Aerials: 1. Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya (BLR), 105.93; 2. Laura Peel (AUS), 97.64; 3. Mengtao Xu (CHN), 89.88; 4. Sicun Xu (CHN), 81.20; 5. Nuo Xu (CHN), 56.84.
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Calgary (CAN) ~ 14-16 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Halfpipe: 1. David Wise (USA), 90.00; 2. Nico Porteous (NZL), 87.75; 3. Noah Bowman (CAN), 85.50; 4. Hunter Hess (USA), 84.25; 5. Brendan McKay (CAN), 83.75. Also: 9. Birk Irving (USA), 61.00; 10. Cassidy Jarrell (USA), 56.25.
Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 91.50; 2. Rachael Karker (CAN). 86.00; 3. Kexin Zhang (CHN), 84.50; 4. Brita Sigourney (USA), 83.00; 5. Fanghui Li (CHN), 77.75. Also: 6. Svea Irving (USA), 76.75; 7. Abigale Hansen (USA), 70.25.
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Feldberg (GER) ~ 15-17 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Ski Cross I/ Big Final: 1. Ryan Regez (SUI); 2. Florian Wilmsmann (GER); 3. Kevin Drury (CAN); 4. Alex Fiva (SUI).
Men’s Ski Cross II/ Big Final: 1. Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA); 2. Romain Detraz (SUI); 3. Regez (SUI), 4. Robert Winkler (AUT).
Women’s Ski Cross I/ Big Final: 1. Sandra Naeslund (SWE); 2. Lisa Andersson (SWE); 3. Alizee Baron (FRA); 4. Marielle Thompson (CAN).
Women’s Ski Cross II/ Big Final: 1. Naeslund (SWE); 2. Andrea Limbacher (AUT); 3. Brittny Phelan (CAN); 4. Kelsey Serwa (CAN).
