ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Swiss duo Ryan Regez and Fanny Smith followed up their individual golds with a victory in the ski cross mixed team finals at the Freestyle World Championships.
Miki Tsubaki of Japan then turned the tables on Ester Ledecka by beating her in the women´s parallel slalom final, AP reported.
Regez and Smith were favorites for the team final, where the men start first and the women then set off in staggered order in accordance to where the men placed.
France had two teams going for gold with Youri Duplessis Kergomard and veteran Marielle Berger Sabbatel in France 1 with Melvin Tchiknavorian and Jade Grillet-Aubert in France 2. Italy was the other contender.
Duplessis Kergomard led for most of the men’s run ahead of Tchiknavorian but they almost collided heading into the final corner.
Regez was just behind and overtook them both, then composed himself on the final jump to put the Swiss in pole position.
Smith did the rest in style, leading from start to finish and then laying on the snow to take in the win. The 32-year-old Smith had also won individual gold at the 2013 worlds.
Tchiknavorian and Grillet-Aubert got the silver medal with the Italian pair of Yanick Gunsch and Jole Galli taking the bronze.
Ledecka had beaten the defending champion Tsubaki in the parallel giant slalom final, adding another trophy for her first snowboard world title in eight years. She is also a standout Alpine skier in downhill and super-G.
Dutchwoman Michelle Dekker won the bronze medal over Aleksandra Krol-Walas of Poland, who missed out on another medal after placing third in the giant slalom.
Bulgaria’s Tervel Zamfirov, who is 20, won the men´s title by defeating Austrian Arvid Auner in the final. Italian veteran Aaron March won the bronze medal.
Lindsey Vonn drifts off to sleep by visualizing the downhill course at the upcoming Olympics in Italy.
That´s been the American ski racer’s drive, her reason behind this comeback at 40 and after a partial knee replacement. Everything she´s done this season – the races, the testing of her skis and boots, the physio – is designed with the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics in mind. After that, medal or no medal, she will retire again.
Although, there´s a provision in her plans – if she´s in contention for a downhill or super-G season-long title, Vonn will remain on the circuit.
“This season is literally just a test run and a trial run to see what I can do,” Vonn said in an interview with AP leading into the World Cup finals, where she turned in the 12th-fastest time during a downhill training session on the new course at Sun Valley.
