Switzerland’s Cavigelli grabs first World Cup snowboard title with big air win in Seoul

Cavigelli grabs 1st World Cup snowboard title

SEOUL, South Korea — Gian-Luca Cavigelli of Switzerland won his first snowboard World Cup title on Sunday, capturing a big air competition on a 112-foot-high ramp built in the South Korean capital’s downtown.

Cavigelli finally beat Stefan Gimpl, edging the Austrian after narrowly losing to him in World Cup big air competitions in London, Barcelona and Stockholm.

“I feel great at the moment to have won my first World Cup — it’s a super great feeling, super special city, and it’s the best,” Cavigelli said.

Gimpl remains at the top of the World Cup standings and wasn’t disappointed with his finish.

“I’m happy for Gian-Luca; he has been second for quite a few events now and finally he made it and it was just a good show, good event,” he said. “I’m stoked.”

Gimpl has 3,800 points, Cavigelli is second with 3,100, and Japan’s Kazuhiro Kokubo is third with 1,600.

The special setting, the ramp was situated between the 600-year-old Gyeongbok Palace to the back and a statue of the 15th-century ruler King Sejong to the front, brought out the best in Cavigelli.

He set the pace with a big backside 1080 — three rotations in the air — that went unmatched throughout the competition. The rising 22-year-old star then put together three huge, clean jumps that had the crowd roaring.

“It was amazing, so many people and just a special place,” he said. “I’m really happy to have won here because it’s like a new feeling competing in an Asian country, and definitely Seoul is an amazing city.”

Gimpl put the pressure on Cavigelli with a high-scoring opening jump, but touched his hand down on his second. He came back with a strong third run to secure the silver.

World champion Markku Koski of Finland rebounded from a poor first run to win the bronze.

South Korea hosted the snowboarding worlds in January and is bidding to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The next World Cup event begins Tuesday in Telluride, Colo., with parallel GS races that will serve as key Olympic qualifiers.

Associated Press writer Esther Hong contributed to this report.