“Coming back and having my first competition here in Secret Garden after 11 months out of the bib, it’s a dream come true,” said Gu from the finish area, “Seeing all the fans out here cheering me on, it gives me memories of the Olympics, for sure.
“I feel really proud seeing how many people in China have taken up snowsports since the Olympics in 2022 and the real passion people have started to cultivate for it here, especially young people. There’s a ton of girls out here skiing and snowboarding, too, and if I helped influence that, that’s all I could have ever asked for.”
As mentioned above, second place on the day went to reigning World Champion Hanna Faulhaber, who put her signature amplitude on display throughout the day but had a minor bobble in each of her runs.
Her best of the three was run one, in which she started things off with a massive tail grab, before going into a left 900 safety, then a right flare safety, a switch right 720 safety and finally a left 540 Japan to finish things off with a score of 82.25 for the fourth podium of her World Cup career.
Rounding out the women’s podium in third place with a score of 79.25 was Canada’s Amy Fraser, who started her run with a bold switch 900 safety, before going into a switch left 540 tail, then a switch right 720 safety, then a left flair tail, before finishing things off with back-to-back 900s, first right and then left.
HARD-CHARGING FERREIRA POWERS TO FIFTH WORLD CUP WIN
Over on the men’s side of things the veteran Alex Ferreira showed once again why he’s been one of the best in the business for well over a decade, as he attacked the pipe from first run through to last, earning his fifth World Cup victory in the pipe that he won Olympic bronze just under two years ago.
Leading off his 91.00 point-scoring winning run with a switch left 1080 tail, Ferreira then sent a massive right double 1620 cindy on hit two, then into a left 1080 tail, a switch right double 1080 Japan, before finishing it all off with a bang, stomping a left double 1620 safety on his final hit.
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