First World Title for Smaine
By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
January, 22 2015
KREISCHBERG, Austria (Jan. 22, 2015) – Twenty-three-year-old Kyle Smaine (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) dominated Kreischberg’s halfpipe competition to earn his first World Championships title. Smaine led the competition from start to finish, earning the top spot in Wednesday’s qualifiers and putting down an unbeatable first run in Thursday night’s finals that would ultimately earn him the gold. While Smaine was the obvious winner on the night, silver medalist Joffrey Pollet-Villard of France took home the honor of crowd favorite with huge amplitude and an alley-oop flat 540. Bronze went to Switzerland’s Yannic Lerjen who bumped Broby Leeds (Vail, CO) off the podium on his third and final run.
Highlights
- Kyle Smaine scored the top qualifying run before going on to win gold at the 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships.
- This is Smaine’s first World Championships appearance and first world title.
- Broby Leeds (Vail, CO) and Walter Woods (Vail, CO) finished just off the podium in 4th and 5th respectively.
- Smaine’s winning run: Left-side 1260 tail; Right-side 1080 tail; Switch 720 opposite safety; Right-side 900 high mute; Right-side 900 truck driver
Results