MARKKU KOSKI"THE FLYING FINN"

Markku Koski Wins Big Air Gold

published Jan 24 07:15 PM, updated Jan 24 07:24 PM

Markku Koski kuvassa oikealla.

Markku Koski soared Saturday to seize the World Snowboard Championships big air title from defending champion Mathieu Crepel of France.

The contest on the last day of the World Snowboard Championships came down to three men: Koski, Crepel and Seppe Smits of Belgium, who battled round by round for the gold.

Koski, an Olympic bronze medalist in the halfpipe at Torino in 2006, put the pressure on Crepel and Smits with a huge, tight 1080 in the second round. The judges gave the trick the highest score in the event to vault him into the overall lead.

Nailing his jump in the final round, Markku Koski seized the gold and the world title. Smits took home silver, while Stefan Gimpl of Austria claimed the bronze.

First-time world championship competitors from Finland, Petja Piiroinen and Jaakko Ruha finished in sixth and 11th place respectively.

The competition at Hyundai Sungwoo Resort in South Korea was the first Snowboard World Championships held in Asia. Medals were awarded for five disciplines: snowboardcross, parallel giant slalom, parallel slalom, halfpipe and big air