By Canadian Press

Canada’s Jasmine Baird strikes World Cup gold in Big Air

Dec 10, 2022 | 8:19 PM

EDMONTON — Jasmine Baird nailed an underflip 900 on her first jump of the night — and never looked back.

The rider from Georgetown, Ont. won gold in Saturday’s FIS World Cup Big Air event at Commonwealth Stadium.

Holding the lead through two jumps, Baird rode last in the final round. She watched the other six finalists fail to match her scores, and to a chant of “Jasmine, Jasmine” from the home-nation crowd, she launched herself down the 15-storey man-made slope for a celebratory third jump.

“I’ve never had the luxury of a victory lap before,” said Baird. “My coach came up to me and gave me a big hug. I usually don’t like to watch anyone else drop, for some reason. I don’t like to look at the scores. But coach came up, I was the last to drop, and he said, ‘Congrats on your win.’”

Baird, whose dad was in attendance, said it was the first time he’d been able to see her perform in person at a World Cup event.

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Belgium’s Evy Poppe grabbed silver. Reira Iwabuchi, the Japanese rider who won the season-opening event in Switzerland, fell on her first jump, but recovered in the final two jumps to take bronze.

Iwabuchi and Baird are now tied atop the overall World Cup standings.

Japan’s Kokomo Murase pulled out of the competition Saturday, adding to a high number of riders who refused the man-made slope in Edmonton. On Friday, the women’s qualifying session was delayed, then cut to two runs from three. Only 13 of the 21 riders slated to compete actually got up to the starting gate. Riders had expressed concerns about how slow the course was, and that they were struggling to get the air needed to complete their routines.

In the final, Poppe and Iwabuchi were flung out of the gate by their coaches, so they could build enough speed to jump.

“It’s been really, really tough, for sure,” said Baird. “Compared to the boys, a lot of our field are just lighter than them. Without that weight behind us, it’s harder to get that speed. Everyone’s pinning it, everyone’s doing their absolute best, but it was really tight.

“People were getting pushed from behind or launched by their coaches, there were pull bars up there like they’d have in a race, and I‘ve never seen that before, it was definitely a challenge.”

Fellow Canadian Laurie Blouin had a big wipeout in warmups, and didn’t perform any flips in her first jump attempt. She finished fifth.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2022.

Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press