Harrington crowned Freeski Big Air World Champion
Luca Harrington has made history by becoming the first Kiwi to be crowned the FIS Freeski Big Air World Champion.
It caps a remarkable season for the Wānaka 21-year-old, who has won two World Cup golds, an X Games gold and silver, New Zealand’s first ever FIS Freeski Crystal Globe and now a World Championship title.
“I am so honoured, this season has been just incredible for me and to top it all off with the World Champs win is such an honour, it is a dream of mine coming true and I am so grateful to be here right now,” he says.
Harrington was the top qualifier into the finals held at Corvatsch, Switzerland, giving him the advantageous position of dropping last into each of the three finals runs. Big Air format takes the best two scoring tricks (that must be performed in two different directions) and combines them for a total overall score.
Harrington put down a right triple corked 1980 safety grab for his first run, scoring a 92.00 which was a great first score on the board. Dropping into his second run, he stomped his one-of-a-kind trademark switch right triple corked 1800 Esco Grab. The judges loved it and rewarded him with a massive 96.75, the highest score of the competition.
“Honestly, after my first run I was a little surprised but super stoked on what the judges scored it and that gave me a lot of confidence to send it on my second run. That trick [Triple corked 1800 Esco Grab] is my speciality and I knew I could put it down. That was the cleanest I had landed it here, it was crazy and I was in shock, I just couldn’t believe it!”
As the last athlete to drop, Harrington’s third and final run was a victory lap but knowing he could execute his first run trick more cleanly, Harrington went all in an put down a textbook right triple corked 1980 safety grab to up his score on this trick to a 95.25. With a total combined score of 192.00, Harrington took the World Championship title by significant margin, 7.75 points ahead of his nearest competitor.
Elias Syrja of Finland secured his first career major podium finishing in second and Beijing 2022 Big Air champion and 2025 Slopestyle World Champion Birk Ruud of Norway rounded out the podium in third.
Harrington will now take a well-deserved break from competition, but will still be spending plenty of time on his skis having fun and getting creative through the Northern Hemisphere spring.
Videos
Luca Harrington Run 2 – Switch Right Triple Corked 1800 Esco Grab
Luca Harrington Run 3 Victory Lap – Right Triple Corked 1980 Tail Grab
Luca Harrington, Freeski Big Air World Champion Interview and Podium vision
Wānaka snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott meanwhile pulled out of the Snowboard Big Air finals in Switzerland after taking a tumble in practice.
Queenstown ski race Alice Robinson wrapped up her most successful season ever last week, finishing in second place in the 2025 FIS Alpine Giant Slalom World Cup standings.
Robinson just missed out on the overall win to Italian sensation Federica Brignone but was on the World Cup podium seven times (1 x gold, 3 x silver, 3 x bronze) and is bringing NZ's first ever Alpine World Champs medal home to Queenstown.
"This season has been special in many ways," Robinson says on social media. "Well the final GS didn’t go the way I had hoped. All I wanted was to fight and show my best GS skiing over two runs, and give myself a chance to fight for that globe. Well it wasn’t meant to be, I lost that opportunity and that was disappointing to say the least.
"However this season has been a dream and the best GS skier this year won @federicabrignone thanks for inspiring us all and can’t wait to chase you again next year"
