Top Five Results for Kiwi Women at World Snowboard Champions

Oslo, Norway (19 February 2012) – Rebecca Sinclair (Wanaka) and Shelly Gotlieb (Ohakune) have just finished a gruelling ten days of training and competition at the first ever TTR World Snowboarding Championships in Oslo, Norway with fantastic results. Sinclair was just off the podium, finishing the halfpipe competition in fourth place while teammate Gotlieb finished fifth in slopestyle.

Gotlieb and Sinclair were the standout NZ performers of the event, and now sit in third and fifth position on the TTR World Tour Rankings, respectively

Fantastic preparation, hard work, and determination has paid off for Sinclair who according to NZ’s Head Park and Pipe Coach, Tom Willlmott, “demonstrated the biggest, best and most consistent halfpipe riding of her life.”

“Things had been going well in earlier rounds, so Bex stuck to the same routine, landing a great run in the first of three, including a standout frontside 720 to Haakon flip combo before stepping things up to push for the podium,” said Willmott.

“Bex has proven her ability to peak at pinnacle events with a fourth place finish at the 2011 FIS World Championships last year, and now this result in a strong field. I am very happy with how everything came together for her this week, and look forward to getting stuck into further training in the spring-time to help her achieve the artillery she needs to get on the podium in 2013 and 2014.”

Commenting on her performance Sinclair said, “I felt really good this week and was super happy with my riding. I’m really stoked to have landed some personal best runs in competition and to end up fourth! I’m looking forward to my next event – the US Open in March.”

Overnight rain meant the Slopestyle course was rock solid for the finals of slopestyle today. This did not deter the world’s best from throwing down impressive runs on the challenging features, and ensured an exciting climax to the event.

The women were up first, and Gotlieb got down to work in training feeling out her backup run and preparing for the next step up.

First to drop in the field of 10, Gotlieb opted to push things hard in her first run, but came unstuck on the first jump feature clipping the knuckle on a cab-540. “She landed one of the best single tricks of the event scoring 9.3 out of a possible 10 points for a huge backside 720,” said Willmott. “But the sketch earlier in her run meant the overall score would not feature atop the rankings.”

Gotlieb struggled again in run two and was sitting in eighth position going into run three. Demonstrating composure and performing under pressure, she landed a backside 360 to impressive backflip to backside 540 in her third run, moving her up to fourth place. Spencer O’Brien came from behind in her third run landing the best run of the event with a spectacular frontside 720 off the toes to take out the World Champion title, bumping Shelly down a spot to fifth position.

“I am stoked to have finished fifth in a great field with some awesome riding going down by the ladies,” said Gotlieb. “I wish I could have landed the run I wanted to – oh well, I’ll get it next time!”

NZ Women’s Slopestyle Coach Jody Blatchley commented on the finals, “It was the best of the best out here today, and it was great to see everyone give it their all. We have a clear understanding of where our riders are sitting in the world’s pecking order and know what we need to do to improve results in the future. It has been a good learning opportunity as we look towards future pinnacle events - Sochi 2014 included.”

In all, seven New Zealanders qualified for the first-ever World Snowboarding Championships. Ben Stewart and Milu Multhaup-Appleton competed in the men’s halfpipe competition but were unable to progress past the qualifying rounds. Rebecca Torr, Abby Lockhart and Stefi Luxton competed alongside Gotlieb in women’s slopestyle. Torr secured a spot in the semi-finals just missing the cut to the finals. Lockhart and Luxton both crashed in the first heat of qualifiers and didn’t make the cut to semi-finals.

For full event coverage checkout: http://new.livestream.com www.wsc2012.com http://www.wsc2012.com and www.ttrworldtour.com http://www.ttrworldtour.com

Members of the NZ National Snowboard Team will compete next at a World Cup event in Stoneham, Canada; followed by the European Open in Laax, Switzerland; the US Open in Stratton, Vermont; and the European X-Games in Tignes, France.

ENDS

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