Category: Torah Bright

Top tens for Crawford, Bright and Johnstone in Laax

21/1/2018

Nathan Johnstone rides during a training session for the FIS Freestyle World Cup 2016/17 Snowboard Halfpipe at Bokwang Snow Park. © Getty Images

Australia's Holly Crawford and Nate Johnstone have finished seventh and tenth in the final Halfpipe World Cup prior to PyeongChang 2018.

Competing in Laax, Switzerland, Crawford put down a best score of 46.50 on her second of two runs in the 8-woman final.

Crawford's teammate and fellow three-time Olympian Torah Bright progressed through to the final earlier in the week but did not start leaving her in eighth place overall.

China dominated the competition with Jiayu Lu claiming top spot with a score of 96.25, beating compatriot Xuetong Cai and Spaniard Queralt Castellet.

In the men's event Johnstone put down a best run of 46.00 to end the event in tenth as he builds towards competing at his second Olympic Games in PyeongChang.

Sochi 2014 gold medallist Iouri Podladtchikov impressed on home soil taking out the victory with a score 90.50 ahead of Yuto Totsuka of Japan and China's Yiwei Zhang.

The event did not feature a number of highly ranked athletes from the USA who had their final selection event at Mammoth Moutain in Colorado.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

Last PyeongChang qualifier for Aussie Halfpipe riders

17/1/2018

Some of Australia’s top snowboarders will drop into the halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland in this year’s second World Cup and final PyeongChang qualifier.

Among those competing at the Swiss resort include Holly Crawford, Torah Bright and Sochi Olympian Nate Johnstone, who is hoping for “redemption” after Snowmass “didn’t go to plan for me at all”.

Johnstone finished in 36th place with a best score of 19.00 last week, missing out on Saturday’s 10-man final after he “couldn’t manage to put one [run] down in either of my competition runs”.

“I just want to put down a solid run and build on that through the event,” he said.

“Training has been good, we had a great first day of training but the snow has rolled in hard and put a handbrake on the event for the time being.”

Crawford, Bright and Emily Arthur finished within the top 15 of last week’s Halfpipe World Cup but were unable to secure spots in the eight-woman finals.

Crawford, a three-time Olympian, finished in 14th place with a best score of 56.75 while Torah Bright wasn’t far behind, placing 15th with a best score of 55.75.

Bright, who like Crawford is hoping to compete in her fourth Winter Olympics, recently stepped up to the podium twice during the North-American Cup circuit in December after making a stunning return to the Snowboard Halfpipe competition.

Arthur, who competed in Snowmass after securing her best ever World Cup result at China’s Secret Garden in December, finished in 12th place with a best score of 60.25.

With PyeongChang looming, the 18-year-old has elected to remain at her “home mountain” of Mammoth, California while she tests some new tricks on airbags.

“It really helps with fear, because you literally have nothing to lose when you try a trick, so it definitely helps me get tricks much quicker,” she said.

“My coach and I thought it would be good to compete here and get some extra training in and not worry about travelling so close to the Olympics.”

Fellow Halfpipe riders Kent Callister and Scotty James will also remain in the U.S. and compete alongside Arthur at the Mammoth Grand Prix in California.

In last week’s World Cup final, described by commentators as the “most impressive event in the history of snowboarding”, James claimed silver with a best score of 96.25.

“Australia, more now than ever in my career, I can really feel the energy and the camaraderie coming from them and I really appreciate it,” the 23-year-old said following the event.

With snow showers and low visibility on the forecast for Laax, Wednesday’s qualification runs were put on hold with event organisers hoping that a window will open on Thursday for combined qualifiers and semi-finals.

“But with more snow on the forecast, we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Johnstone said.

“Otherwise, everything is good and it’s great being back in Laax!”

For live updates from Laax click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

David Barden
OWIA

Bright makes successful return to competition ahead of PyeongChang

14/12/2017

Triple Olympian and gold medallist Torah Bright returning for a tilt at PyeongChang. Photo: AOC

Three-time Olympian Torah Bright has made a successful return to Snowboard Halfpipe competition with two podium finishes on the North-American Cup circuit this week.

In her first event since the 2015 World Championships, Bright won gold with a strong score of 93.50 at the Copper Mountain Nor-Am Cup on Wednesday, and backed up that result with a second place finish at the second event this morning.

The 2010 Olympic Champion has made her intentions clear with Ski and Snowboard Australia that she is aiming to qualify for a fourth Winter Olympic Games at PyeongChang 2018.

The 30-year-old is Australia’s joint most successful Winter Olympian, a title she shares with two-time Olympic medallist mogul skier Dale Begg-Smith.

After placing fifth at her debut Games at Torino 2006, the Cooma-born snowboarder who carried the Australian flag during the 2010 Opening Ceremony, won gold at the Vancouver Games.

Four years later she became the first competitor to compete in three Snowboard events at the same Games, taking on the Slopestyle and Snowboard Cross in addition to the Halfpipe.

At the age of 27, Bright went one better than just making her mark in the history books. After finishing seventh in the Snowboard Slopestyle on Day 2 of the Games, she produced a blistering performance in the Halfpipe on Day 5 to earn the silver medal, before going on to finish equal 18th in the Snowboard Cross, proving she was the most versatile snowboarder at the Games.

Prior to this week, the only major competition Bright has contested Since Sochi is the Kreischberg 2015 World Championships where she placed 6th in the Halfpipe.

If she qualifies for the PyeongChang 2018 Games, Bright will join Colin Coates, Jacqui Cooper, Lydia Lassila and Adrian Costa in the elite group of Australian Olympians who have contested four or more Winter Olympic Games.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

James takes bronze at X-Games

31/1/2016

OWIA/Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) snowboarder Scotty James has finished third in the Men’s Super Pipe Final at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

The 2015 World Champion, competing in his fourth X-Games, put in an impressive performance in his first run.

With a huge crowd looking on, the sole Australian in the field had an average jump height of 14ft 10 inches, that impressed the judges and spectators.

James narrowly missed second spot by just two points, which was taken by Ben Ferguson of the United States, with Matt Ladley, also of the United States winning gold.

Unfortunately dual Olympic medallist and OWIA/NSWIS supported athlete Torah Bright was unable to compete after suffering a concussion.

Image: Scotty James at X-Games Photo: © Peter Morning Photography

Bright second at Laax Open

23/1/2016

Dual Olympic medallist and OWIA/NSWIS supported athlete Torah Bright has finished second at the Halfpipe event at the Laax Open in Switzerland.

Bright advanced to the final after winning her semi-final with a score of 87.00.

In the final, Arielle Gold of the United States put in a great performance, scoring 90.12, with Bright scoring 84.12 and third place went to Hikaru Oe of Japan.

Fellow OWIA athletes Scotty James and Kent Callister, as well as NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox, both reached the semi-final stage in the men’s event.

Image: The top-3 women in Laax © Torah Bright Instagram

Bright, James & Callister confirmed for Laax Open

20/1/2016

Good luck tonight to OWIA athletes Torah Bright, Scotty James, Kent Callister and NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox who will all be competing in the semi-finals of the Halfpipe at the Laax Open in Switzerland.

As seeded athletes, Dual Olympic Medalist Bright, World Champion James, and Olympic Finalist Callister, automatically qualified for the semis.

Matthew Cox finished an impressive third in his qualifying heat to also progress and will join James in the second semi final heat.

The top-6 from each of the men’s heats will make the 12 in the final. Bright will need to finish in the top 6 to qualify for the ladies final.

Being an open event, the Laax open offers all riders an opportunity to participate in this international contest.

The event runs from 18th to 24th January.

IMAGE: Kent Callister flying high in Laax © Kent Callister Instagram

OWIA Sport Programs Update - Park & Pipe

7/10/2015

Torah Bright, Holly Crawford, Russ Henshaw, Scotty James and Nathan Johnstone trained predominantly in NSW at Perisher and Thredbo resorts during the Australian season.

World Cup events took place at Cardrona in New Zealand during August for Slopestyle and Halfpipe.

Australia’s leading performance in New Zealand came from Nathan Johnstone, who place seventh in the Snowboard Halfpipe event. Russell Henshaw placed 35th in Ski Slopestyle.

Other notable top-10 results in New Zealand came from NSWIS athletes Jess Rich who was seventh in Snowboard Slopestyle and Emily Arthur who placed ninth in Snowboard Halfpipe.

Kent Callister is currently in New Zealand training taking part in on snow training.

Scotty James World Champion!

18/1/2015

Snowboard halfpipe rider Scotty James claimed Australia’s second gold medal in the FIS Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria, this morning (Australian time).

The 20-year-old Olympic Winter Institute/Victorian Institute of Sport athlete secured his first major title ahead of China’s silver medallist Zhang Yiwei and Slovakian Tim-Kevin Ravnjak.

In a day heralding a new beginning for Australian men’s halfpipe, 19-year-old fellow OWIA/NSWIS rider Kent Callister also finished impressively in sixth place in the 10-man Championships final after winning his qualification heat yesterday.

James’ gold medal comes 48 hours after aerial skier Laura Peel provide the perfect start to these Championships by leaving Kreischberg with her first major title win.

With wins to James and Peel, Australia has won two of the six gold medals awarded so far.

Right from the start of the halfpipe competition, James asserted his dominance over the strong field, and like Callister, he also won his heat to advance to the final.

And in the final, James immediately declared his intentions by putting down a highly impressive performance in his first run of the day.

It was this run of 91.50 points that the rest of the field were unable to equal. The next best were Zhang on 89.50 and Ravnjak on 89.25.

James said that the win “means the world to me” and was especially pleased to share the experience with his brother Tim, who was pipe-side to see his younger sibling secure gold.

“It’s been such a crazy journey the last couple of years and I’m absolutely over the moon right now,” he said.

“It feels like it has been a long time coming but today I guess it all worked out for me.

“I’m really happy right now and to do it for Australia is even better.”

It’s a journey that started 17 years ago when James’ father Phil brought home a surprise for his then three-year-old son, a novelty display $10 snowboard.

James admits that the surprise was a “bit of a joke at the time” which has since evolved into serious business for the talented Australian.

At the age of three, the now 185cm tall athlete was too small for a conventional snowboard but when Phil saw the display snowboard, which was being used as a doorstop by a retailer, he had no idea that it would lead to a world championship title for his son.

“It all started when I was three when Dad bought me a little board which was actually a doorstop in a snow shop. It was like $10 and that is when it all started and I haven’t stopped since,” James recalled.

“I remember when he came home that night he said: ‘I’ve got a little surprise for you’.

“I used that for a couple of years and onwards from there.

“I have an awesome crew around me and my family have been amazing.”

Today’s huge win is a clear sign of the transformation of James who, at the age of 15, was the youngest male athlete at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

“A while ago I was told I can stay where I am or put in the work and get some podiums.

“That has been my mentality this year and last year. The biggest thing is that I have grown up a lot. I’m a bit older and mature, making better decisions.

“My hunger to win big competitions has been a big part of it too.

“I’d like to say this is the start of a new journey for me. I like the feeling that I have right now. I’m going to fight for it every day and let my results do the talking.”

James' good friend and mentor, two-time Olympic medallist, Torah Bright, finished in 6th place after qualifying in third while World Championships debutant Emily Arthur did well to finish 16th. Holly Crawford was 21st.

The women’s title went to China’s Cai Xuetong, the silver was won by Spain’s Querait Castellet and Frenchwoman Clemence Grimal was third.

The other Australian, Nate Johnstone, was 12th.

The spotlight switches to moguls skiing tonight (Australian time) with the qualification session followed by the finals tomorrow.

RESULTS
Women’s snowboard halfpipe World Championships, Kreischberg, Austria
1. Cai Xuetong (CHN), 2. Querait Castellet (SPA), 3. Clemence Grimal (FRA), 4. Hikaru Oe(JPN), 5. Sophie Rodriguez (FRA), 6. Torah Bright (AUS), 16. Emily Arthur (AUS), 21. Holly Crawford (AUS).

Men’s snowboard halfpipe, World Championships, Kreischberg, Austria
1. Scotty James (AUS), 2. Zhang Yiwei (CHN), 3. Tim-Kevin Ravnjak (SLO), 4. Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI), 5. Taku Hiraoka (JPN), 6. Kent Callister (AUS), 12. Nate Johnstone (AUS).

Silver for Bright in epic Halfpipe final

13/2/2014

Silver medalist Torah Bright of Australia celebrates during the flower ceremony for the Snowboard Women's Halfpipe Finals on day five of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on February 12, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.© Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Torah Bright has produced a sensational final run in the women’s Halfpipe final to clinch silver – Australia’s first medal at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. “It was perhaps one of the hardest events I’ve ridden in, in a long time. It was just really challenging,” Bright said.

“I’m just so happy the night’s over really and that I was able to put down a run.”

The Vancouver 2010 champion was just 0.25 points behind American Kaitlyn Farrington who scored 91.75 with her second run. The bronze went to Torino 2002 champion and pre-event favourite Kelly Clark (USA) who nailed the last run of the competition (90.75) after falling heavily on her first run.

The standard was phenomenal and the tension was high at Extreme Park. American Hannah Teter was fourth with 90.50 after leading the 12-woman final from her 1st run.

Bright, 27, increased her degree of difficulty from qualification and held nothing back. On Run 1 she fell, missing her landing on a frontside 540 but she headed back up the hill and did the job second time round.

“After the first run I was like ‘really? I did this again to my family and my friends watching, I put them through the wringer again, why?’” Bright said, referring to her similar ride at the Olympics four years ago.

The incredible performance follows Bright’s seventh in the Slopestyle final three days ago. In four days she will race the Snowboard Cross, showing she is the most versatile and talented snowboarder at the Games.

“I don’t care about the colour of the medal. Life isn’t about winning it’s about putting your best foot forward and sharing your light.”

Born in Cooma, NSW, Bright is coached by her brother Ben, who has also been and emotional help for her, since her divorce from fellow snowboarder Jake Welch.

“I’ve got to give a shout out to Benny, especially this past year, he’s been an incredible support to me. He has given so much to me. I love him, he’s my brother, but he’s a dear friend.”

She went on to dedicate the silver medal to her biggest fans.

“It’s for my family, it’s for my brother, it’s for everybody who takes joy from what I do.”

Bright’s medal follows her gold at Vancouver 2010 and it now takes Australia’s total Olympic Winter tally to 10.

Before tonight in Sochi, Australian athletes had achieved five top-10 performances and are now on the medal tally for the sixth consecutive Winter Games.

Other Aussies that featured in the Snowboard Halfpipe event included Stephanie Magiros who finished 18th after making the semi-final, Hannah Trigger (20th) and Holly Crawford (26th).

Andrew Reid / Emily Groves | sochi2014.olympics.com.au

Bright 7th in Slopestyle

9/2/2014

Torah Bright of Australia waves to the crowd as she waits to receive her score © Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Australian Snowboard Champion Torah Bright finished seventh in Slopestyle at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games on Sunday. Not able to land her Cab 9 trick cleanly in both runs, ruined the 27-year-old’s hopes of a podium finish in a super-hot field.

“I was really quite pumped to come out and have another little trick in the bag,” she said of her new move, that she couldn't quite pull off.

“That last one, I was like ‘yeah, I got it’, but then I... that just happens sometimes."

The winner was four-time X Games champion Jamie Anderson (USA) with a huge score of 95.25 from her second run. Enni Rukajarvi of Finland moved from fourth to second (92.50) with her last attempt and Great Britain won its first medal on snow at any Winter Olympics with Jenny Jones’s run of 87.25.

Bright’s rail displays were clean and impressive but when she touched her hands down on her first big jumps in both runs she lost valuable points and speed for her remaining two big tricks.

Bright was sitting sixth after a first run score of 64.75. In qualification on Thursday she cruised to a score of 85.25 but couldn’t reproduce on Sunday.

As always though the Australian was all smiles and congratulated her competitors, including Anderson, at the bottom of the course.

“She’s one of the best riders in the world and I want to see the best do their best and win.

“I think that was a wonderful representation of female snowboarding today and I’m proud to be a part of it,” she said, but lamented the fact that Slopestyle is a judged sport.

“It’s just really sad that Sina Candrian (SUI) wasn’t on the podium. She made history today by doing a women’s frontside 1080 – first time ever in contest."

All 12 girls didn’t hold back. Sarka Pancochova of the Czech Republic, who was leading after Run 1 had a heavy fall, cracking her helmet, but was thankfully able to ride to the bottom of the course. Making the pain for her fall even greater would be being passed by four girls in Run 2 to place fifth.

Canadian World Champion Spencer O’Brien had a day to forget, unable to execute two clean runs she finished at the tail of the final in 12th.

There is no rest for the wicked, Bright now turns to the Halfpipe with a training session later today. Bright is aiming to defend her Halfpipe crown on Wednesday.

Andrew Reid | sochi2014.olympics.com.au

Australians impress at Dew Tour

15/12/2013

Australia’s reigning Olympic champion Torah Bright won the coveted Dew Tour snowboard superpipe title in Breckenridge, USA, today.

The 26-year-old captured first place in a specially invited field of the world’s best, including the full squad of American athletes who are vying for team selection for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games in Russia.

Two other Australians, Scott James and Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder Kent Callister were also impressive with 5th and 11th place in an equally high-calibre men’s superpipe final.

James’ performance, one of the best of his career, will set him up for the next week’s halfpipe World Cup event at Copper Mountain in the USA.

The event was won by American Greg Bretz who outclassed event favourite Shaun White, with Taylor Gold in the bronze medal place, making it an American 1-2-3 finish.

The results by the Australians have added importance, given that the event is the first leg of five events used by American selectors for the Sochi Games.

Bright, who recorded the fifth best qualifying score three days ago, was excellent in the final, easily accounting for second placed American Kelly Clark. Another American, 13-year-old Chloe Kim was third.

Going into the second run of the final, Bright knew that her score of 95.4 could not be knocked off the leaders’ board.

She used her second pass as a “display run.”

“If I did my second run any better, I don’t think I would have gotten any more points,” Bright said.

“My whole idea with my riding right now is that I want to do a run that is memorable.

“I want to do it big, I want to do it smooth and stylish.

“I’ve got more tricks to work on but I’m riding to the beat of my heart these days.”

Crawford’s podium finish at Olympic test event

15/2/2013

Snowboard halfpipe athlete Holly Crawford delivered Australia’s first podium finish at the site of next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi tonight (Russian time).

Crawford, the silver medallist at last month’s World Championships, finished second in tonight’s fourth round of this season’s World Cup tour, which was also a test event for next year’s Winter Olympic Games, but aggravated a long standing injury.

The Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport rider’s condition was being assessed by medical personnel tonight, however, it is believed that the injury relates to rib cage cartilage damage.

She has been dealing with the condition since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Crawford, who is known for her courage and resilience on the tour, could not attend tonight’s medal ceremony, which would have been her 17th podium appearance in a stellar career.

The event started brilliantly for the Australian, with Crawford earning automatic inclusion in the final, bypassing the need to compete in the semi-finals, by finishing her qualification heat yesterday in third place.

Crawford arrived at tonight’s halfpipe, which is part of a $50 billion-plus greenfield development for the 2014 Sochi Games, in discomfort after the rib injury recurred in the qualification session.

Her first run down the halfpipe in tonight’s final saw the Perisher based rider deliver a solid performance, attracting 78 points from the judges, enough to earn her second place at the halfway mark of proceedings.

Approaching her second run for the night with more determination to press for the lead, Crawford fell early, in what appeared to be a minor mishap.

However, the slight fall immediately ended her hopes of improving her run one score.

Crawford finished second to America’s two-time Olympic medallist Kelly Clark, with Frenchwoman Sophie Rodriguez in third.

Current Olympic champion Torah Bright showed glimpses of her talent but had to settle for seventh, resulting from a mistake on both runs, while other Aussie results saw Stephanie Magiros in 23rd, Hannah Trigger in 27th and Alexandra Fitch in 31st position.

AIS / NSWIS rider, Nathan Johnstone, was eighth in the men’s final after replicating Crawford’s performance of gaining automatic inclusion into tonight’s final with the third best score in his qualification heat.

Johnstone, who went into the event with severe jetlag and a virus, was unable to complete a clean run tonight, but was encouraging with his level of difficulty and amplitude.

Japan’s Taku Hiraoka won, with Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov second and American Scott Lago third.
Australians Scott James was 13th while AIS / NSWIS athlete Kent Callister was 58th.

Johnstone and Bright both win at Copper Mountain

13/1/2013

Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport snowboard halfpipe athlete Nathan Johnstone should go into next week’s World Championships at Stoneham, Canada, with great confidence and Torah Bright is recapturing the form that earned her a Winter Olympic Games gold medal after both recorded strong victories today.

Johnstone, the reigning World Champion, and Bright completed his-and-hers World Cup wins at Copper Mountain, USA, which has elevated Johnstone to the number one ranking while Bright has jumped to second place on the standings.
Their performances prompted AIS halfpipe coach Ben Alexander to describe the results as “outstanding”, given the level of talent in the event and the standard the Australians set today.

Johnstone was in great form finishing ahead of second and third placed Americans Luke Mitrani and Louie Vito while Bright was victorious over the 2002 Winter Olympic Games gold medallist Kelly Clark, from the United States, and Spanish rider Queralt Castellet who finished third.

“Both Nate and Torah were outstanding today,” Alexander said.

“With the number of young talented riders entering the sport now and the fact that the last Olympics were three years ago and everybody is now so much better, today’s wins were outstanding,” Alexander said.

Johnstone wowed the judges and spectators, as well as surprising everybody except himself and other Australians, with a technical run consisting of a backside air to a frontside double cork 1080, a cab 1080 taipan, a frontside 900 mute and a backside 900 melon.
Bright was awarded the day’s highest score, 85.75, in her first of two runs with a backside air to air to air fakie, a cab 720 indy, frontside air, backside 540 mute and a backside alley oop rodeo 540.

Johnstone and Bright headlined a record breaking day for Aussie World Cup skiers and snowboarders, a day that consisted of an unprecedented two wins and a further three podium finishes in just one day.

Seventeen-year-old Kent Callister also provided his share of dazzle to the day by finishing ninth in the field of 83 men in just his second World Cup event.

Since making his World Cup debut in New Zealand last August as a 16-year-old, the young gun has impressed, establishing himself as a potential high achiever in years to come.

Another Australian teenager, 2010 Olympian Scott James, finished in 28th while in the women’s draw reigning World Champion and AIS / NSWIS athlete Holly Crawford experienced mistakes in the qualifying round and had to be content with 35th place.

NSWIS athlete Stephanie Magiros was 27th while Alex Fitch placed 34th.

Bright wins her first World Championship medal

9/1/2013

Olympic champion Torah Bright has added a World Championship medal to her career highlights but not in the event that most people would expect.

The snowboarding versatility of the 26-year-old was clearly on display on day two of the World Championships in Stoneham, Canada, where she overlooked, the halfpipe, to chase a medal in slopestyle.

She earned her first World Championship medal, a bronze, by finishing behind the United States’ Spencer O’Brien, who won gold in her first World Championship, while Switzerland’s Sina Candrian was third.

It was the first time since 2005 that Bright had competed at a World Championships.

Her World Championship medal performance was just one week after she competed in slopestyle for the first time in some years, where at Copper Mountain, USA, where she finished in 55th place in a field of 59 competitors.

At the same Copper Mountain World Cup event, Bright showed her best skills in the half pipe, by winning the final in a field featuring all of the world’s best riders.

Aussies make their mark in Breckenridge

16/12/2012

Australian snowboard athletes have recorded impressive results today in one of the world’s most prestigious halfpipe events, the Dew Tour, in Breckenridge, USA.

Reigning Olympic gold medallist Torah Bright showed her rivals that her comeback is progressing strongly with an impressive fourth place while defending World Champion and AIS/NSWIS rider, Nate Johnstone finished the final in sixth.

Given the quality of the field and the athletes who finished in the first five places of the men’s final – Shaun White, Louie Vito, Taku Hiraoka, Christian Haller and Ayumu Hirano – Johnstone’s sixth place is a great early season result.

Australian Institute of Sport halfpipe program coach Ben Alexander labeled Johnstone’s performance as “particularly positive” with the World Championships in Stoneham, Canada, just four weeks away.

“Anybody who is a big name in halfpipe was there so Nate was very pleased to be invited to compete,” Alexander said.

“It would have been nicer to finish higher in the results but sixth in that list is still very impressive.”

In other results, Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder, 17-year-old Kent Callister, showed why big things are expected of him in the future when he finished 18th in the semi-final.

AIS/NSWIS scholarship holder and 2011 World Champion Holly Crawford, who missed most of last season with an injury, took another step in her comeback when she finished 9th in the semis.

American Kaitlyn Farrington picked up the winner’s prize, followed by Spain’s Querait Castellet, American Maddy Schaffrick, Torah Bright from Australia and American Kelly Clark in fifth place.

Australia's good signs on the horizon

26/8/2012

Australia’s snowboard halfpipe squad has shown clear signs that the coming northern hemisphere winter, which includes the World Championships as its centrepiece, will be another successful year for our athletes.

Competing in the opening event of the 2012 / 2013 World Cup season in Cardrona, New Zealand, today, Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport rider and reigning World Champion, Holly Crawford, finished fifth, after advancing to the final as the winner and highest score in her semi-final.

The final was won by United States’ 2002 Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark, followed by France’s Sophie Rodriguez and Spain’s Queralt Castellet in third.

Crawford’s performance prompted praise from AIS halfpipe program coach Ben Alexander, who said he was more than pleased with the Cardrona result and he believes she is on track to challenge for another World Championship in Canada in January.

“I’m very happy with her progress at this point in the season,” Alexander said.

“She has been riding well, training well and she is in good shape.

“We are definitely focused on the World Championships. That is a key event for us. We are going to make a big push with the World Championships.”

Alexander said now that her first hit out for the season was finished, Crawford and other squad members will continue with fitness preparation before going back to New Zealand for a training camp in five weeks.

The squad will then resume competition in the second round of the World Cup in the United States in November.

Crawford’s assault on the World Cup season and the World Championships will be strengthened by the introduction of two new and more difficult tricks, which are expected to be added to her competition repertoire from November.

“She is already doing the new tricks in training but now it’s just a matter of getting to a stage where she does these new tricks consistently. When that occurs she will start using them in competition,” Alexander said.

Australia’s current Olympic Champion Torah Bright competed in her first World Cup event since November 2009 and also left Cardona with an encouraging result.

Except for a handful of invitation exhibitions, Bright has effectively not competed since she struck gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in February 2010.

With her eyes fixed on qualifying for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, Bright is now reigniting her career and will be pleased with a third place in her heat in Cardrona.

The men’s halfpipe saw 2010 Olympian and VIS scholarship holder Scott James qualify for the final in a strong performance but fell, which put him down in 11th place at the end of the day.

Sixteen-year-old Kent Callister, made an impressive World Cup debut in an event that was won convincingly by Japan’s Ryo Aono, Shuhei Sata also from the Japan in second, while third place went to China’s Yiwei Zhang.

The teenage AIS athlete, narrowly missed advancing to the final after a creditable performance in the semi, to finish 13th overall.

Reigning World Champion Nate Johnstone finished 15th, delivering a gutsy performance given that the AIS / NSWIS rider was competing with bruised ribs from a training mishap.

The bruising prevented Johnstone from attempting many of his usual higher scoring tricks.