O’brien takes gold, trip to Sochi
STONEHAM, QUE.— Canada’s Spencer O’Brien won the FIS snowboard world championships slopestyle title on Friday. But her mom in B.C. probably didn’t see it.
“My dad is watching the live feed. I actually don’t think I told my mom. Oops, sorry mom,” O’Brien said, right after her gold medal win. “They’ll be in Sochi,” she added.
Qualifying for the 2014 Sochi Olympics is the only reason many of the top slopestyle snowboarders, who prefer to compete on the pro circuit, came to this event at all.
Canada’s Mark McMorris, who won a silver in men’s slopestyle Friday, was pretty clear that he’d be doing the bare minimum of events run by FIS, the international ski and snowboard federation.
“If I could do none that would be a dream come true, but that’s just not the way it goes,” he said, referring to the need to qualify for the Olympics through the FIS points system.
McMorris and some other snowboarders have been critical of FIS slopestyle courses, saying the jumps are too small and the rails too basic to let them really showcase the tricks they’re capable of doing.
Despite her win, O’Brien was actually disappointed with her run as she wasn’t able to put down the string of tricks she intended to do. But it was good enough for gold.
As well as her new world championship gold medal, O’Brien is also the reigning champion on the pro World Snowboard Tour.