Australian teen Brown wins first freeski half-pipe World Cup event, Zhang finishes second
Eileen Gu missed the event in Calgary due to training commitments, Li Fanghui finished in fourth place
Indra Brown became the youngest Australian to win a freeski half-pipe World Cup event on Saturday after the 15-year-old took top spot in Calgary to boost her chances of grabbing a place at next month’s Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Brown also became the only Australian to have secured more than two freeski half-pipe World Cup podiums, surpassing Davina Williams and Amy Sheehan.
Making her debut on the tour in December, Brown opened her season with a third-place finish at the Genting Resort Secret Garden in Zhangjiakou, and followed that up by finishing runner-up at the event in Copper Mountain, Colorado.
The Chinese double Olympic gold medallist Eileen Gu finished first at Secret Garden, while her compatriot Zhang Kexin finished third at Copper Mountain.
Gu did not compete at Copper Mountain or Calgary due to training commitments.
Brown took the early lead in Calgary with a first-run score of 85.20. Zhang earned silver, while American Svea Irving took bronze. Last season’s overall winner Li Fanghui had to settle for fourth place.