Press release -
World Championship bronze in Aspen & four HEAD athletes in the FWT final
It’s been quite a weekend for the HEAD Freeski team. Friday started off with halfpipe finals in the FIS World Championships in Aspen where Zoe Atkin was awarded a bronze medal for her clean and technical runs. Former World Champion Aaron Blunck, who has made an amazing recovery after his severe injury in October last year, didn’t reach all the way this time, finishing 5th, followed by the young Swiss Rafael Kreienbühl. In the slopestyle finals the HEAD Freestyle athletes had a bit of a struggle. Evan McEachran did best of the bunch, finishing 8th, Jesper Tjäder 10th and Izzy Atkins 14th.
In Freeride World Tour, the majestic Wildseeloder in Fieberbrunn Austria stood host to the 3rd and last stop before the final, Verbier Xtreme, on Bec de Rosses, Switzerland. With snow conditions varying from soft pow at the start to frozen sluff at the bottom the riders had their work cut out for them.
Hedvig Wessel showed no fear and put down a strong run with solid skiing and big airs that was awarded with the 2nd best score of the day and also meant that she will be skiing the final wearing the golden bib – the sign of the overall leader.
In the men’s category, Swede Carl Regnér left the freestyle tricks in the bag and went for a full throttle big mountain line down some of the largest features of the venue. Oh well, he squeezed in a massive 360, too. The judges liked what they saw and gave him a spot on the podium as third best male skier. A score that also secured him a spot in the final.
Carl and Hedvig will be joined in Verbier by Blake Marshall who showed off his signature hot dog moves and claimed a 9th place, making him 8th in the overall ranking.
Just south of the cut, with un unfortunate fall after a backflip, we find the Austrian Tao Kreibich. But it’s not over for him either! Through a wild card Tao will also be on the top of the Bec when it’s time to drop in. Sam Lee and Raymond McDermott are unfortunately out of the running due to injury.
The weather window for the grand finale in Verbier is open between 20-28 of March. Last year the tour was cut short after Fieberbrunn, due to the pandemic. Let’s hope that all of the athletes will have the chance to show their bravery on Bec de Rosses this year.
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About HEAD
HEAD is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of premium sports equipment and apparel.
Our business is organized into five divisions: Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Diving, Sportswear and Licensing. We sell products under the HEAD (alpine skis, ski bindings, ski boots, snowboard and protection products, tennis, racquetball, paddle, squash and pickleball racquets, tennis balls and tennis footwear, sportswear and swimming products), Penn (tennis balls and racquetball balls), Tyrolia (ski bindings) and Mares, SSI and rEvo (diving) brands. The Company´s key products have attained leading market positions based on sales and reputation and have gained high visibility through their use by many of today´s top athletes.
