American snowboarder Chloe Kim and Australia’s Scotty James secured gold medals in the halfpipe events at the world championships on Saturday. Kim scored 93.50 in her first run during the women’s final, earning her third world title after previous victories in 2019 and 2021. She did not compete in the last edition of the championships.
Japanese snowboarder Sara Shimizu, just 15 years old, took silver with a score of 90.75, while her teammate Mitsuki Ono claimed bronze with 88.50.
In the men’s final, Scotty James secured his fourth world title with a second-run score of 95.00. Japanese athletes once again dominated the podium, with Ruka Hirano earning silver and Yuto Totsuka finishing with bronze. James, who previously won back-to-back titles in 2015, 2017, and 2019, finished fifth in the last world championships. Reflecting on his success, he said, “I wanted to come back and finish it on top. To have won four world titles, I’m pinching myself.”
In the freestyle big air event, Italian teenager Flora Tabanelli recovered from a fall in her second run to clinch the gold medal, defeating Swiss favorite Sarah Hoefflin by six points. Finland’s Anni Karava secured third place. The 17-year-old Tabanelli concluded an impressive season, having won World Cup titles in big air and park and pipe.
In the men’s big air competition, New Zealand’s Luca Harrington claimed the gold medal after dominating the event. He had already secured victory with his first two runs, both scoring in the 90s, and then outdid himself with a third-run score of 95.25. Like Tabanelli, Harrington was the World Cup season big air champion. Finland’s Elias Syrja finished in second, while Norway’s Birk Ruud, the slopestyle world champion, took third.
