Chloe Kim and Maddie Mastro Make History in Switzerland

It’s great to watch one rider overcome adversity. It’s even better when two of them do so to land on the podium.

U.S. Snowboarding teammates Chloe Kim and Maddie Mastro both missed the podium at the U.S. Grand Prix’s halfpipe contest in December. Mastro was forced to withdraw from the contest after a hard landing led to an injury. Kim fell at the end of her run, which cost her the lead, and she finished in fourth.

Kim and Mastro regrouped to finish in first and second places, respectively, in Laax, Switzerland. They made some history along the way.

Both Kim and Mastro became the first women to land a double cork 1080 in a competition. Kim’s cab double helped her earn a 96.50 on her way to gold, and Mastro landed a frontside double to join Kim in the record books.

It was Kim’s fifth world cup win of her career, and her first win since the 2023 X Games, where she became the first woman to land a 1260 in a competition.

“I really wanted to show you guys my cab double, and I’m so happy I was able to put it down,” Kim said. “It’s rewarding to just ride for fun.”

It’s the first time American women have claimed the top two spots on a World Cup podium since the same duo did it in 2018 at the U.S. Grand Prix. For Mastro, it was a tremendous mental boost, following the slam at Copper Mountain.

“Having confidence in this half pipe, it’s a must. You have to be confident when you drop into this halfpipe. So it was good that I got to start to knock off that rust, per se, and build my confidence back up after that slam in Copper,” Mastro said to Snowboarder. “Then it just kind of just snowballed from there, and I was able to land on my feet in finals and ended up back on the podium, which was overall really great for my confidence.”

South Korean rider Choi Gaon finished in third place with a 93.25.

On the men’s side of things, Australian Scotty James took home a win thanks to a big second run. His cab triple cork 1440 helped set the tone, and he finished the run with a switch backside 1260 on his way to a score of 95.75.

Japan’s Ruka Hirano finished in second place with a 93.75, and Ayumu Hirano came in third with a score of 87.

“I knew I had to put my best foot forward and throw everything at these guys,” James said to Olympics.com. “I fortunately came away with the win.”

In the slopestyle contests, British phenom Mia Brookes won with an 84.86 in her first run that outlasted fellow heavy hitters Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Kokomo Murase, who rounded out the podium with respective scores of 75.36 and 71.15.

It’s a big win for the youngster, who remains hot after dominating the podium in Big Air contests so far this year.

Red Gerard finished in second place on the men’s side, just barely getting nudged out of first place by Canadian Cameron Spalding with his score of 86.63. German Noah Vicktor’s score of 83.72 was enough to grab the final podium spot.

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