Ski and Snowboard Club Vail 16-year-old snowboarder claims first World Cup win
Ollie Martin took the slopestyle title in Calgary last Saturday
Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP
Ski and Snowboard Club Vail snowboarder Oliver Martin caught the attention of U.S. Ski and Snowboard coaches the last few years on account of his big air prowess. After all, the 16-year-old is one of three athletes in the world who can land a 2160. But Martin has always pictured himself as a slopestyle guy.
“I’ve performed better in big air,” he told the Vail Daily after the Aspen Grand Prix weekend, where he placed fourth in big air. “But I think of myself as more of a slopestyle rider because I love rails. I love the course.”
On Saturday, Martin backed up his claim. The Youth Olympic Games silver medalist claimed his first World Cup win and podium in slopestyle at the Snow Rodeo World Cup at Winsport Calgary Olympic Park. Martin scored 80.60 to top a stellar 18-man final as U.S. teammate Red Gerard (78.63) placed second and five Americans finished in the top eight.
“It feels amazing — I couldn’t be more happy,” Martin told U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “I didn’t think I was going to do this well today in such a stacked field, but I’m so happy and proud of my riding.”
Martin qualified in sixth. He opened his first finals run with a back 450 boardslide to fakie, a half cab to back boardslide 270 and a back boardslide cork 630 weddle on the rails. On the first two jumps, he went switch back double cork 1260 melon and back double cork 1440 gorilla. Then he lifted off the shark fin feature into a front double cork 1440 indy to post the winning score. Norwegian Marcus Kleveland rounded out the podium in third as overall World Cup leader Taiga Hasegawa of Japan finished in fourth.
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“Waiting for the other riders to drop was super stressful, especially because of how good everyone is,” Martin said. “So I’m just stoked to be on the podium and it makes it even better that it’s a win. So cool being up there with Red, too.”
The result is a marked improvement from how Martin fared in Aspen, where he finished 53rd out of 56 athletes in his first World Cup after suffering a concussion in January. He told FIS after his win Saturday that returning from injury wasn’t easy.
“The hardest challenge was just watching everyone do so well,” he said. “I’ve worked so hard to get back. (I’m) ready to ride again and I also changed my mindset in that (I) tried to play it more competition-safe and just do the right tricks for the right time. It really paid off.”
Eagle County Olympian Chris Corning placed 33rd and Martin’s SSCV teammate Brooklyn DePriest was 51st. On the women’s side, SSCV athletes Hahna Norman and Lily Dhawornvej finished 13th and 21st, respectively. Rebecca Flynn placed fifth to lead the U.S. as Mari Fukada of Japan took the win.
The fifth and final slopestyle competition on the FIS Snowboard World Cup calendar will take place March 13-14 at Absolut Park Flachauwinkl in Austria.
