An error on the final jump proved costly for Belle Brockhoff in her quarter final at the Snowboard Cross World Cup event in Phoenix Park, Korea, site of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

The OWIA/NSWIS athlete led her quarter final comfortably, until a stumble upon landing on her final jump saw her slip from first to fourth place, and missing out on progressing to the semi-finals.

Fellow OWIA/NSWIS athlete Alex “Chumpy” Pullin was eliminated in his eight final, after also leading from the start but was caught in a wind gust close to the finish while out in front and finished fourth, however, he still remains in fourth place overall in the World Cup standings.

Winter X Games, gold medallist Jarryd Hughes, suffered a season ending knee injury during the first day of training for the Olympic Test Event. Hughes will miss the final three events of the season after returning to Australia for an arthroscopic meniscus repair.

NSWIS athletes Matthew Thomas and Adam Dickson both made it through to the quarters, recording personal best performances, with Thomas 13th and Dickson 20th in his first ever World Cup start.

For Dickson, it was an experience he will never forget.
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“I had a great first heat; made a couple of mistakes in the quarters, but just super happy to be here racing at this level for the first time,” Dickson said.

IMAGE: Belle Brockhoff in Korea

Australian snowboarder Belle Brockhoff capped off an excellent weekend by finishing second at the World Cup boarder cross event in Sunney Valley, Russia tonight (Australian time).

After finishing second fastest in qualifying yesterday, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete won both her quarter final and semi-final today.

Brockhoff’s second placing also sees her move from sixth to fourth in the overall World Cup standings.

It’s been a good few weeks for Brockhoff with strong results, including a fourth placing at the X-Games three weeks ago.

“I’m really happy that I’m climbing up the rankings and in particular with the progression I’ve had over the last few weeks,” Brockhoff said.

“I’ve been working hard with my coaching staff on my riding; they have been incredible coaches, and my board technician has done an amazing job on all my boards. They feel very fast and consistent,” Brockhoff added.

In the Men’s, Alex “Chumpy” Pullin and Jarryd Hughes both cruised through qualifying on Saturday, and progressed to the semi-finals, where Hughes finished second, therefore qualifying for the big final, and Pullin finished sixth in his semi, which saw him qualify for the small final.

Pullin put in a very good run in the small final, crossing the line in first place, to finish the World Cup event in seventh place overall.

Hughes, who has been in good form after winning Gold at the X-Games, finished in sixth place in the big final.

Snowboard Cross Head Coach, Ben Wordsworth was pleased with their performances, saying they were both unlucky to not finish higher up the leaderboard.

“Chumpy and Jarryd raced well today, but were unlucky to get caught up in traffic,” Wordsworth said.
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“Chumpy won the small final which was great, and unfortunately Jarryd got caught up the back in the big final to finish sixth.”

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Alex Dickson has won Australia’s second medal of the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games after claiming silver in the snowboard cross on Hafjell Olympic Slope. Dickson just missed out on the gold after chasing the USA’s Jake Vedder all the way to the line, while Mollie Fernandez from Geelong was also fantastic in fourth.

"It's a dream come true," said the ecstatic youngster. "I always wanted a medal.

"The final was crazy. Everyone caught up to one another at one point and made it super tight, it was great racing.

The 17-year-old from Jindabyne didn't know what to expect heading into the competition but as it got closer there was only one thing on his mind.

"This was just going to be an experience for me but ever since training and then in the lead up all I wanted was a medal.

"I was hungry for it."

Dickson was strong throughout the competition qualifying in third just 0.03 seconds off the leader.

He finished fourth in his first heat before winning the next four to progress through to the Semi-Finals as the third ranked rider.

A second place finish in the semi set up a final showdown with Vedder, eventual bronze medallist Sebastian Pietrzykowski of Germany and Evan Bichon of Canada.

"The start was pretty crazy, we were all pretty tight. Then two pulled out in front and I had to make up some ground while trying to block off the guy behind me.

"I got the outside line on the second to last corner and just held second from there."

Fernandez was consistent throughout qualification and the heats and was ranked sixth leading into the Semi-Finals. Her second place finish there set her up for the four woman Final.

"I'm stoked," said the 17-year-old speedster.

"The competition was crazy. It was bang, bang, bang (race after race) and it was so much fun.

"I definitely didn't think I'd get to the Final so it's awesome."

Dickson’s result follows on from Emily Arthur’s silver medal in the snowboard halfpipe yesterday and improves on the two bronze medals from the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games with plenty more competition to come.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

It’s been a golden day for Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Snowboard Cross program at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

Jarryd Hughes took out first place in the Men’s Snowboard Cross Final, with team mate two-time World Champion, Alex “Chumpy” Pullin finishing a close second to put the two Australian athletes on the podium for the first time at a Winter X-Games.

After fantastic performances across the whole weekend, 20-year old Hughes was naturally ecstatic with his victory.

“I was in Germany for a World Cup last week, and all I could think about was winning Gold here,” Hughes said.

“I just raced my race and did it; I am so happy right now,” he added.

Belle Brockhoff finished fourth in the Women’s Snowboard Cross Final to make it a great games for the OWIA/NSWIS Snowboard team.

Additionally, 16 year old youngster Ben Tudhope from NSW, who finished third in the Men’s Adaptive Snowboard Cross final, taking out his first X-Games bronze medal.

Image: Jarryd Hughes celebrates after crossing the line in first place © ESPN