FIS Snowboarding World Championships 2015: Latest Results and Updated Schedule
The 2015 FIS Snowboarding World Championships kicked off in Austria's Kreischberg ski resort on Thursday with the qualifiers for the snowboard cross, the first in a series of events spanning nine days and culminating in the big air finals, one of the sport's most spectacular competitions.
Maelle Ricker will not be defending her title in the ladies' snowboard cross, but the rest of the field is stacked with talent, ensuring Friday's finals should be exciting.
Read on for full results, recaps and an updated schedule of the 2015 World Championships.
Updated Schedule
Schedule courtesy of data.fis-ski.com.
Friday, January 16
Ladies' and Men's Snowboard Cross (Finals)
Ladies' and Men's Half-Pipe (Qualifiers)
Saturday, January 17
Ladies' and Men's Half-Pipe (Finals)
Monday, January 19
Ladies' and Men's Slopestyle (Qualifiers)
Wednesday, January 21
Ladies' and Men's Slopestyle (Finals)
Thursday, January 22
Ladies' and Men's Parallel Slalom
Friday, January 23
Men's Big Air (Qualifiers)
Ladies' and Men's Parallel GS
Saturday, January 24
Ladies' and Men's Big Air (Finals)
Medal Tracker
The first medals will be awarded on Friday, January 16.
Thursday Recap: Snowboard Cross Qualifiers
The qualifiers for the final of the snowboard cross competition didn't see any major upsets, as favourites Alex Pullin and Eva Samkova both posted the fastest times to advance to the final.
Pullin, who is chasing his third consecutive world title, finished his first run in a time of one minute and six hundredths of a second, coming agonisingly close to the magical one-minute barrier. Spain's Lucas Eguibar and Austria's Markus Schairer completed the podium, but both came in well behind the defending champion.
The 27-year-old has a chance to become the first athlete to win three consecutive titles in the snowboard cross and finds a fast slope that favours his aggressive style in Kreischberg. The support of hordes of fans won't hurt, either.
Schairer, who won the title in 2009 and is racing in front of his hometown fans, remains Pullin's biggest obstacle to another gold medal, while Italy's Tommaso Leoni also looks in fine form.
Olympic champion Samkova narrowly took the top spot in the ladies' qualifiers, completing her fastest run in 1:03.64. Dominique Maltais and Lindsey Jacobellis both finished less than .20 seconds behind the 21-year-old, and they'll be gunning for gold as well on Friday.
Jacobellis in particular looks like a strong bet to beat the Olympic champion, having won every single World Cup event she entered during the past season. With three world titles under her belt, she has the experience to win a head-to-head against super-talent Samkova.