Wānaka freeskier Luca Harrington (21) has opened the 2025/26 FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup season in style, claiming bronze at yesterday’s (November 29) season-opener in Secret Garden, China.
The defending Big Air Crystal Globe winner and current World Champion came in as one of the favourites and backed it up with another podium performance.
Luca said the level was high from the first day of training and that simply making finals was a battle, but he was happy to turn it into a podium finish on day one of the new season.
“Today didn’t play out exactly as I had planned, but I played my cards well and I couldn’t be happier to be back on the podium,” Luca said.
Luca delivered a highly technical run highlighted by a switch right triple cork 1800 and a right triple cork 1980, scoring a combined 176.00 to lock in third place.
American Troy Podmilsak took his first Freeski Big Air World Cup win, with Canada’s Dylan Deschamps in second.
Fellow Kiwi Lucas Ball (Nelson, 17) also impressed in just his third World Cup start, making the stacked men’s final and finishing sixth overall.
In the women’s freeski field, Wānaka’s Sylvia Trotter (18) made her Big Air World Cup debut and advanced to finals, finishing seventh.
Big Air finals give athletes three jumps to land two different tricks in two different directions of rotation, with their best two scores (out of 100) combined for a total out of 200.
The Secret Garden stop is the first of four Big Air World Cups this season, with the tour now heading to Beijing’s Big Air Shougang for next weekend’s event for both freeskiers and snowboarders.
Snowboarders were also in action in Secret Garden, where 18-year-old Wānaka rider Lucia Georgalli made her FIS Big Air World Cup debut and finished ninth, narrowly missing the finals by just 0.5 points.
PHOTO: Li Runsheng / FIS Park & Pipe
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