Jon Sallinen won the silver in the halfpipe freestyle at the World Championships in Georgia.
10:27•Updated 11:21
Jon Sallinen won the silver medal in the freestyle halfpipe in Georgia. Sallinen reached the top score of 95.75 with his third landing. An even and exciting World Cup final ended for the Canadian By Brendan Mackay to the Golden Jubilee. Mackay, who counted last in the final, scored a whopping 97.25 points and took the championship.
– A really, really calm bill from Jon Sallis! He is indeed a natural talent, because that calmness cannot be taught, Sami Saarenpää explained Sallinen after the third count.
– You can’t buy his peace of mind. A great bill from Jon Sallis, Saarenpää and expert Juho Kilkki beamed on air.
Sallinen succeeded brilliantly already in his first descent of the final, when he scored 90.00 points. Sallinen charged an even better bill in the last round and was even close to the world championship for a while, but Mackay got past at the end.
The jury appreciated Sallinen’s clean work in the competition. The tricks were big and expert Juho Kilkki especially praised Sallinen’s descents in the commentary.
American Alex Ferreira finished third in the tough final. Ferreira achieved 93.00 points. The WC final was held in foggy, windy and rainy weather.
The 22-year-old Salline’s brilliant season culminated sweetly in a World Cup medal. In January, the Finn celebrated his first World Cup competition victory, when he was first in the race in Calgary, Canada. The X Games came in third place.
FREESTYLE, HALFPIPE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
1. Brendan Mackay CAN 97.25
2. Jon Sallinen FIN 95.75
3. Alex Ferreira USA 93.00
Story updated at 11:21: added expert comments