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Six Americans Advance To World Champs Halfpipe Finals

By Andrew Gauthier
February, 8 2019
David Wise at Park CIty
David Wise at the 2019 FIS World Champs presented by Toyota freeski halfpipe qualifiers. (U.S. Ski & SNowboard - Sarah Brunson)

The U.S. Freeski Team has a stacked roster of athletes headed into the FIS Freeski World Championship halfpipe finals Saturday, including 2018 PyeongChang bronze medalist Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.).

“The pipe is sick,” said Sigourney. “Park City did a great job. It’s been rough with the weather we’ve had the last few days, but today is the best day we have had so far. It’s really nice we were able to have great weather for the qualifiers. I’m stoked, the sun is out and it was a good day. Having my family here definitely puts the pressure on, especially when they couldn’t make it for qualifiers. My parents are flying in this afternoon and boyfriend’s entire family is here as well. I’m happy I get to ski for them and hopefully, it will be just as good of a day on Saturday.”

Also, 2014 Sochi gold medalist Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.) will be representing the U.S. women in finals.

“I feel I did as much as I could with what we were given in practice,” said Bowman. “I’m very thankful I made it through to finals. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen today. I’m looking forward to competing in front of the Park City crowd on Saturday. The girls are skiing super well, so it should be a lot of fun.”

For the men, 2018 PyeongChang Olympic gold medalist David Wise (Reno, Nev.) qualified first and will be leading the charge.

“I had an amazing practice,” said Wise. “Coming off a couple of bad weather days of practice, waking up this morning having the sun pop out, the riding as good as it is, it just made me excited about skiing. I rolled through practice and landed some of my best runs of the year. I managed to land my first run when the competition got started and tried to do a little more on my second run to build steam for finals. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s so cool to be able to compete here in Park City for the World Championships. The Utah, Salt Lake, Park City areas are so excited about winter sports, so I think people are going to come out and support.”

2018 PyeongChang Olympic silver medalist Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) will also be representing the U.S. in finals.

“This is my first World Championships,” said Ferreira. “I didn’t do so well on my first run so to land my second run and make into finals makes me feel super grateful. My whole plan for the season was to do Dew Tour, X Games, and World Championships. I ended up competing at the Copper Grand Prix as well, but I wanted to focus on just the big events this year. I am happy to be a part of this event, in the finals and everything looks like it’s coming together.”

Joining Wise and Ferreira is X Games gold medalist Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) as well as U.S. Freeski Pro Team member Taylor Seaton (Avon, Colo.).

The vibe is right heading into the final days of the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships. Tune into NBC to catch all the action.

START LISTS
Men’s freeski halfpipe
Women’s freeski halfpipe

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Feb. 9
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Championships men and women’s halfpipe - Park City Mountain, Utah - NBC