Historic Big Air World Cup win for Harrington
Luca Harrington has won the FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup in Flagenhurt, Austria this morning.
It's a monumental achievement for the Wānaka 20-year-old, marking his maiden World Cup win and his first ever Big Air World Cup podium - a huge career milestone.
This is also the first time any Kiwi freeskier has won a FIS Big Air World Cup, a historical moment for Harrington and the New Zealand snow sports community alike.
An ecstatic Harrington almost couldn’t believe it right after his win, saying; “I don’t have words right now, I have been working really hard for the past few years, making finals has been huge. To put down these two tricks tonight and walk away with the win is just the most insane thing ever, the biggest dream come true, and I am just so grateful.”
After qualifiers went down earlier in the day, the top ten men progressed to the final round which went down under lights on a purpose built, scaffold jump located inside a stadium in front of a roaring crowd.
The Big Air format consists of three runs, with two of those run scores counting for a total combined score. The two scoring tricks must be performed in different directions, with the third and lowest scoring run a throwaway.
After finishing fourth in the last Big Air World Cup in Beijing, Harrington was hungry and wasted no time. He put down a flawless switch right triple corked 1620 with an esco grab for his first trick and impressing the judges and rewarded with a score of 94.80. This remained the top score of the competition, with only two other athletes posting a score in the 90s.
Dropping into run two, Harrington stomped a right double corked 900 bring back Japan grab to solidify his lead with a total combined score of 186.60.
For the third and final run the athletes dropped in reverse order, meaning Harrington was the final athlete to drop in. He watched his nine competitors drop in before him, all trying to top his score, but his high scoring tricks were untouchable. Harrington dropped into his first ever victory lap as he took the win, throwing down a crowd-pleasing double back flip for his final run.
Timothe Sivignon of France finished in second position and local athlete Matej Svancer of Austria rounded out the podium in third to the delight of the home crowd.
Harrington will look to carry this momentum into the Kreischberg Big Air World Cup next Saturday, 11 January.
