“You’re like ‘ah wow, okay, this means something to people’” – Jaz Taylor
Fresh from her double Crystal Globe winning season, we sat down with Telemark sensation, Jaz Taylor, to get her insight into a history-making year
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Bankes, Brookes, Raposo, and Taylor lead the way as season draws towards a close
As the 2021/22 season heads towards its close, British athletes were grabbing sensational results across Europe
Charlotte Bankes topped the bill, picking straight back up from her pre-Olympics form with yet another World Cup victory, sealing the Crystal Globe in the process. Her victory in Reiteralm, her fourth this season, means Bankes has stood on the podium at all but one of her World Cup races since the start of the season, and left her in an unassailable position at the top of the competition standings with one competition to go.
In the Men’s races, Huw Nightingale made it safely through to the Finals, coming 24th as his first season on the World Cup tour draws towards its end.
Mia Brookes, the 15-year-old Freestyle Snowboard sensation, also continued her breathtaking season with a stunning Big Air performance in Leysin, Switzerland, which saw her named Junior World Champion, and a hard-fought second place in the Slopestyle. The Big Air title was secured with a B7 and cab 9 in windy conditions and the two highest-scoring jumps in the competition, leaving Brookes comfortably in first place ahead of Chihiro Edamatsu of Japan in second.
Her second place in the Slopestyle, behind Japan’s Yura Murase, included a well-executed and technical rail line, with a great jump line that inlcuded a cab 10, saw only a point separating Brookes from Murase in the final standings. Remarkably, the Slopestyle silver marks the first time this season that Brookes has finished off the top spot in the eight competitions she has entered this season. Amber Fennell was also in action, the 15-year-old coming 25th in Slopestyle and 22nd in Big Air, for a pair of encouraging performances.
In Alpine, Charlie Raposo secured Britain’s first Men’s Giant Slalom World Cup points in 54 years at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Saturday with a 27th place finish, before backing it up with an even better performance in the second of the weekend’s dual World Cup races to take 16th spot.
A blisteringly fast, technically excellent second leg in Sunday’s race saw Raposo sat in the race leader’s chair at one point, and marks the highlight of his World Cup career to date. The two races marked the second and third times that Raposo has secured World Cup points in his career, the first having come when he opened his account in Lech / Zuers in November.
Charlie Guest, appearing in her first World Cup since her Olympic Winter Games campaign, also took 27th spot in the Slalom World Cup in Are, Sweden. Guest’s result means she has only twice failed to take home World Cup points this season, having delivered a number of career-best finishes over the winter.
In Cross-Country, Andrew Musgrave took his third World Cup top-10 of the season in Falun, with a 10th place finish in the 15km Free. In a tightly-contested race, Musgrave’s time of 32:48.6 saw him share 10th spot with Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, with the pair less than 3s back from Canadian Olivier Leveille in ninth. James Clugnet took 59th, having secured 25th place in the Sprint Classic the day before. Andrew Young, meanwhile, finished further back in the pack in the 15km Free, having taken 36th spot in the Sprint Classic. For Clugnet, the Sprint marked his first occasion qualifying for Finals in a Sprint Classic race.
Big result for this man today, as @musgraveandrew banked a World Cup top🔟 in the 15km in Falun.
Making. Every. Drop. Of. Effort. Count.💪🏼🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/fOZ7CYEy4A
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) March 12, 2022
In Telemark, Jasmin Taylor took an incredible five podiums, including two race victories, in five races in Les Houches and Murren. Les Houches saw two Sprint World Cups that gave Taylor first and second spots, before taking the runners up spot in both Classic and Sprint in Murren, rounding the weekend off with victory in the Parallel Sprint.
There were also encouraging performances from Sissi Compton (11th and 17th in Les Houches Sprint World Cup,, 11th, 12th, and 13th in the Junior World Championships in Murren), Tim Gough (eighth, fifth, and 17th in the Junior World Championships, 12th in Les Houches, 18th in Murren Parallel Sprint World Cup), Ben Emsley (ninth in Murren Sprint World Cup, 16th in Parallel Sprint), Colin Dixon (18th and 15th in Les Houches, 12th, 11th, and 11th in Murren), and Magnus McIntosh (13th and 15th in Les Houchesm 10th in Murren Parallel Sprint World Cup, and 13th, 12th and ninth spots in the Junior World Championships) rounding out an excellent week for the Telemark squad.
The weekly GB Snowsport results summary is presented in association with Snow+Rock
Header Image: Charlotte Bankes celebrates victory at the Reiteralm World Cup, Austria. Photo: GEPA pictures/ Harald Steiner
