Up-and-coming skiing sensation Gustav Legnavsky has won the freeski halfpipe Junior World Championship title after a scorching performance in Switzerland overnight.
Competing under blue skies with little wind, Legnavsky asserted his dominance from run one of the three-run final, with technical skiing and huge amplitude.
Although he was sitting in the top spot dropping into his second run, Legnavsky didn’t hold back. He laced together a fantastic run, including three different double corks, a switch left double 1080, a left double cork 1260 and a left alley oop double 900 on his final hit.
It was the first time Legnavsky had landed the left alley oop double 900 in competition. He was rewarded a huge 96.00 by the judges for his second run, a score which remained untouchable for the remainder of the competition.
Matthew Labaugh and Ben Fethke, both of the USA, rounded out the podium in second and third respectively.
Legnavsky follows in the footsteps of recent Olympic gold medallist Nico Porteous, who won the halfpipe junior world championship in 2018 not long after his Olympic debut.
Fellow Kiwi skier Fin Melville Ives dropped in alongside Legnavsky in the freeski halfpipe finals, finishing in seventh place. His brother Cam Melville Ives was the sole Kiwi in the snowboard halfpipe finals, also finishing in seventh place.
Legnavsky was the youngest athlete in the field at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, where he finished in 19th position.
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