British Snowboarder Mia Brookes Claims First World Cup Gold

British athlete Mia Brookes delivered an outstanding final performance to secure the women’s gold medal at the big air World Cup event held in Beijing. The 17-year-old, who is also the reigning slopestyle world champion, initially placed second following her first run, preceding a less favorable second attempt. As the competition rules count the best two runs, her final run earned a score of 94.000, which was the highest score recorded on the day, contributing to a total of 179.75 and marking her inaugural World Cup title. “I’m really hyped! I didn’t expect to win, but I just wanted to do the tricks I did and I landed them and that ended up being enough, so I’m really hyped,” Brookes said. Mari Fukada of Japan secured the silver medal with a score of 176.75, while Olympic champion Anna Gasser representing Austria claimed bronze with 69.00. Brookes currently holds the title of reigning big air World Cup crystal globe winner, having topped the standings in the previous year. Her season commenced with a silver medal at the freestyle snowboard slopestyle World Cup held in Cardrona, New Zealand, in September, and she placed fifth in her initial big air competition in Switzerland during October. Brookes was ineligible to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics due to her age.