James ‘Woodsy’ Woods won his second Gold of the season last weekend in the US Freeskiing Grand Prix in Copper Mountain on Saturday 12 January.
Woods, competing in Slopestyle, is believed to be the first Brit ever to win two World Cup competitions in any snowsports discipline in a single season.
The event was the second in a series of five, Woods had also won the first, late last summer in Ushuaia, Argentina and now tops the leader board by a substantial margin having 200 points, ahead of the second place athlete with 110 points, with three events to go – Silvaplana in Switzerland and Sochi in February and concluding in Sierra Nevada in southern Spain in March.
Woods, aged 20, began skiing at Sheffield Ski Village, which was largely destroyed by a series of fires along with vandalism and theft last spring.
A review on the official; International Ski Federation’s freeski website (fisfreestyle.com) described Woods as, “Bold, brash, and insanely talented,” adding “Woods looks like the one to watch as the qualifying period continues towards Sochi 2014.”
Slopestyle is a new discipline for those up coming 2014 Winter Olympics and barring injury Woods now looks like one of the UK’s best hopes for a podium place since Alain Baxter’s bronze in the slalom at Salt Lake City in 2002, as well as hopefully the first ever British-won Crystal Globe for his efforts this season.