Poland's Szymon Godziek and Argentina’s Cami Nogueira laid down jaw-dropping runs to earn the top men’s and women’s podium spots respectively at the inaugural Natural Selection Bike Aotearoa in Queenstown on Saturday.
Godziek had the audience gasping as he laced two top to bottom lines in the international freeride mountainbike event on the custom-built course at Mt Dewar.
The 33-year-old landed huge backflips and 360s on his way to an impressive combined score of 92.88.
"Winning was my goal when I came here. It’s been a hard week, I’ve practised every day and been giving it 100% so I couldn’t be more happy," Godziek said after the event.
"I’ve loved this event. It’s a mix between slopestyle, freeride and downhill and you have to be a very skilled rider to be able to ride on these features.
"There are sections where you need to really manage your speed to be safe and get the landings.
"My goal was to be the guy who mixed it up and did everything.
"I did front flips, back flips, tailspins, 360s and supermans. It’s what I wanted to do and I’m definitely going to be back next year."
"I’m so stoked that I won. I’ve put in a lot of work, it was such a technical course so I’m really happy with the result," she said.
"I’ve loved the course and loved New Zealand. This is the first Natural Selection Bike. It’s going to be huge in the future and I’m so happy to have been a part of it."
In the women’s division, Hannah Bergemann (USA) placed second with a score of 79.75, while Kirsten Van Horne (Canada) took third with 78.50.
On the men’s side, Carson Storch (USA) finished runner-up with a combined score of 85.88, followed by Louis Reboul (France) in third with 80.38.
Adolf Silva (Spain) claimed the best trick award with a massive superman, while Finley Kirschenmann (USA) earned the best style award for his beautifully executed runs.
Riders from six countries competed. A crowd of about 1500 cheered them on.
Previously known as Proving Grounds, the competition is now part of the Natural Selection Tour, which is expanding beyond its snowboarding roots to include mountainbiking, surfing, and skiing.
— APL
