Gold for Wānaka’s Rocco Jamieson at FIS Australia New Zealand Cup Snowboard Slopestyle

Rocco Jamieson (Wānaka, 18) has won the first stop of the 2024 FIS Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) Snowboard Slopestyle series at The Remarkables Ski Area on Saturday.

Finley Melville Ives (Wānaka, 18) also snagged himself a podium finish, taking second place in the men’s freeski category.

An incredible 95 athletes representing 11 nations competed on the Big Line at Remarks Park. With Youth Olympic Games medallists and World Cup athletes in the mix, the level of competition was high and the podiums were hotly contended in each category.

Jamieson put down two solid runs, oozing creativity and style and standing out from the rest of the field with his progressive jump and rail tricks to take the win with a score of 88.67, over six points ahead of second place.

Jamieson says: “It feels really amazing to take the win here today at home in New Zealand, it feels really nice.

"I tried to do creative tricks that no one else was doing, I did a double sloth roll pullback which I don’t think anyone else did, I wanted to add a little of my own flavour to the run. Shout out to all the riders who threw down and put on a good show for everyone watching!”

Wenlong Yang of China finished in second place, with Oliver Martin of the USA rounding out the men’s snowboard podium in third.

Melville Ives put down the single most technical trick of the men’s freeski competition, a double corked 1260 mute grab, and was pleased to take home the silver medal in what he described as a very competitive field.

Kai Martin of Australia took the win with a technically sound run that was very well executed and Ruka Ito of Japan finished in third in the men's freeski category.

The event was the first Slopestyle Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) event of the 2024 season, with the valuable points counting towards the overall ANC series. The Kiwi or Australian winner of the series will be granted a personal FIS World Cup start for the upcoming Northern Hemisphere season, a hugely valuable opportunity for those athletes with their eyes set on the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

The next stop of the 2024 ANC series will be a premium level event, with additional points up for grabs, as a part of the 2024 Winter Games NZ programme. The snowboarders will compete in the first ANC halfpipe event of the season, with the freeskiers taking on the slopestyle course from the 26 August at Cardrona Alpine Resort.