Snowboarding news - Chris Corning claims slopestyle title without contesting final
BySportsbeat
Updated 11/02/2019 at 13:12 GMT
Chris Corning reluctantly claimed his maiden slopestyle FIS Snowboard World Championships title after a weather-hit competition in Park City.
Chris Corning of USA wins the gold medal, Judd Henkes wins the silver medal, Van Der Niek Velden of Netherlands wins the bronze medal during the FIS World Snowboard Championships Men's and Women's Slopestyle
Image credit: Getty Images
High winds in Utah led to the cancellation of the final, with the winner instead being determined by qualification scores, with Corning the beneficiary of the weather's wrath.
He scored 93.25 in a confident qualifying run, enough to see him top the podium in front of his home crowd, just ahead of Canada's Mark McMorris (93.00) in second and Corning's compatriot Judd Henkes (90.50) in third.
And while it may not have been the way that the 19-year-old dreamed of opening his world championship account, Corning was left with little choice but to accept his prize.
"I can't argue with the decision, there were definitely safety concerns," he said.
"It sucks, but it is what it is. I was really happy with my run yesterday. It was hard to see and probably one of the scariest contest runs I've had to do in a long time.
"I was looking forward to today to ride. But I'll take it, because I planted my run yesterday pretty solid."
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