Anderson helps U.S. sweep wins in China

By USSA

YABULI, China – It was an American sweep at the World Snowboard Federation’s Corona World Championships of Snowboarding slopestyle event, where Brandon Davis (Mammoth Lakes) took the title for the men and Jamie Anderson (Meyers) won her second title of the week. Julia Marino (Westport, Conn.) scored her first major slopestyle podium with a third-place finish for the ladies.

Anderson, who also won the big air world title on Sunday, linked up a technical run to take the win in slopestyle on Tuesday. Tricks like a Cab 720 to switch backside 540 and high-caliber rail riding, finessed with her trademark smooth style, earned Anderson the top spot on the podium. The 25-year-old from Tahoe capped off a stellar season after recovering from a broken collarbone in early December; Anderson’s season included the two WSF World Champion titles, an X Games silver medal, her third-consecutive U.S. Open title and three World Cup wins.

Marino officially made it a breakout year with her podium at the World Championships, after winning the Polartec Big Air at Fenway event in February for her first major win. At just 18 years old, Marino became the first woman ever to land a double in slopestyle competition and she landed not one, but two in the same run—a Cab double underflip on her first jump and a double backflip on her last jump. Marino, who didn’t land her first two runs, had to face the pressure of putting it together on her third and final run, but she didn’t hold back with a safety run.

“I fell on my first two runs so the pressure was on for my last one,” Marino said. “I’m so glad I was able to put it down; I’m just flowing with happiness right now. I didn’t do the double wildcat in practice but I really felt it because I did a bunch of singles on the jumps.”

Karly Shorr (Milford, Mich.) finished ninth, Kirra Kotsenburg (Park City, Utah) was 10th and Jessika Jenson (Rigby, Idaho) was 12th.

The WSF World Championship title was Davis’ second major win of the season, after taking the top spot on his home turf at the Mammoth U.S. Grand Prix in February.

“Today was interesting, I was just having a lot of fun,” Davis said. “I had fallen on my first two runs and I was still having a ton of fun up there – that’s really what snowboarding’s about. I kept my energy high and my expectations low and it ended up working out for me.”

Davis also gave props to his teammate Chas Guldemond (Reno), who won the last World Champion title in 2012. “The only thing that blows my mind is the last person that won this contest was Chas Guldemond, and Chas is a legend.”

Eric Beauchemin (Grand Blanc, Mich.) had a great performance, finishing just off the podium in fourth. Nik Baden (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) was 10th and Ryan Stassel (Anchorage) finished 12th.