Melbourne teenager Indra Brown has continued her extraordinary World Cup debut season, claiming her first gold medal in the freeski halfpipe in Calgary. The victory gives Brown three consecutive podium finishes since her debut in early December, marking one of the most impressive career starts ever by an athlete her age in winter sports.
Brown opened her World Cup campaign with bronze in China, followed by silver in the United States before Christmas, and has now topped the podium in Canada. The result matches a benchmark set by Sweden’s Jennie-Lee Burmansson, who, also aged 15, began her 2017–18 World Cup slopestyle career with a second, first and third-place finish.
The gold medal also cements Brown’s place in Australian skiing history, making her the first Australian skier to claim more than two Freeski Halfpipe World Cup podiums, surpassing Davina Williams and Amy Sheehan, who both finished their careers with two.
In a best-of-two-run final under light snow and flat light conditions, Brown opened strongly with a score of 85.20 points that no skier was able to match.
Her podium run included a leftside 900 safety grab, rightside 900 safety grab, leftside 720 safety grab, switch rightside 540, switch leftside 360 mute grab and finished with an alley-oop 360 japan grab.
China’s Kexin Zhang claimed silver with 84.20 points, while American Svea Irving took bronze on 83.20.
“I’m really excited and happy to be here, and excited for more,” said the Victorian high school student.
In the men’s competition, American Nick Goepper claimed the top spot, with Finley Melville Ives taking second and fellow American Birk Irving rounding out the podium in third.
The victory sees Brown move into first place on the World Cup standings with 240 points, ahead of Zhang (185) and Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin (180), who did not compete in Calgary.
Two World Cup halfpipe events remain this season: Aspen, USA, on January 10, and the World Cup Final in Silvaplana, Switzerland, on March 29, following the Olympics.
Later today in Calgary, two-time World Cup overall champion Valentino Guseli will compete in the snowboard halfpipe final at 12 pm AEDT, aiming for back-to-back podiums after qualifying in first place.
