Then there’s Canada’s Laurie Blouin, who became the second woman to stomp a triple cork in competition when she put one down just moments after Iwabuchi at those same X Games. There’s no doubt the jump here is big enough for one of the women to become the first in FIS competition history to stomp a triple inverted rotation, the two questions will be: is it necessary, and/or will conditions allow for it?
Finally, keep an eye in Great Britain’s Mia Brookes, the 16-year-old who made history last season by becoming the youngest-ever FIS Snowboard World Champion when she dropped the first-ever flat spun 1440 in the middle of her gold medal-winning slopestyle run. Brookes is the best flat-spinner in the game right now, and with a third place finish at Chur to open the season has shown she’s got what it takes to run with the big air heavy-hitters, as well.
SU YIMING RETURNS TO WORLD CUP AS HOME COUNTRY HERO
For the men there’s an outrageous amount of firepower set to drop in on the Beijing big jump, and perhaps none more powerful than China’s own reigning big air Olympic gold medal winner, Su Yiming.
The last time we saw Su with a FIS logo on his bib was there at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, where he stomped frontside and backside 1800s on his way to a historic gold medal win.
Following that win and the ensuing fame, Su largely stepped back from competition, dropping in only for X Games last season in Aspen but otherwise taking time away from competitive snowboarding to regroup following the Olympics.
China’s hero is now back on the scene and, from what we’ve seen so far in training, he’s better than ever, stomping a dizzying array of spins throughout the two days of training and essentially stating to the the rest of the field that the battle this weekend will be for second place.
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