Rheeder and Johanssen highlight thrilling Crankworx Innsbruck slopestyle

After being delayed a day to wait for a better weather window, Sunday’s slopestyle event delivered a thrilling conclusion to Crankworx Innsbruck.

Canada’s slopestyle star Brett Rheeder and Sweden’s Emil Johanssen put on an incredible display of style, skill and sportsmanship in the finals. The two were separated by just 0.5 points after two rounds of competition runs in the Austrian alps.

Johanssen rallied after a wind-blown first run to respond to a huge run from Rheeder. That put the Canadian in a position, once again, of having to respond with his second run. In the end it was close, but Rheeder came out on top, just, keeping his hopes of winning the Crankworx Triple Crown alive going into the final Crankworx stop in Whistler this August.

Rheeder takes an early lead

Coming into Innsbruck, Nicholi Rogatkin was expected to be Rheeder’s biggest competition. The American had won the last two Innsbruck slopestyle’s ahead of his Canadian rival. That challenge ended on the first run. Rogatkin crashed hard on the opening straight, and did not take his second run.

Rheeder dropped in for his first run and immediately floored the announcers with a big flat drop flip whip on the opening feature. Prior to Rheeder, most competitors had been riding conservatively to try deal with the gusting wind. Instead, the Canadian threw huge moves from top to bottom to take a commanding lead over second place Dawid Godziek at the end of the first round of competition runs.

“That was an insanely cool run!” said slopestyle legend Martin Söderström, who was joining Cam McCaul in the announcers booth.

The conditions were more trying for Rheeder than it appeared though.

“My legs are shaking right now, I’m nervous,” Rheeder admitted in the finish corral, adding “I got lucky on that one.”

Johansson responds

After the first round, Rheeder’s lead looked set to carry him to a second straight win, adding to his win in Rotorua, N.Z. earlier this year. That all changed when the 19-year-old Emil Johansson dropped in for his second run.

The young Swedish rider, returning to competition after two years of dealing with injury and a mysterious autoimmune disease, lay down a massive run. With two world-first tricks, Johansson leaped past Rheeder into first with a huge score of 95.

“This is all I thought about for the past two years,”  said Johansson, the 2017 Slopestyle World Champion. “I want to get back, and I want to get back on the podium. I want to get back to the form I once was.”

The incredible run cemented Johansson’s return to the upper echelon of slopstyle, but Rheeder still had one run left to try for the win.

“I’ve been in this position so many times,” said the 26-year-old Canadian rider. “I come down on my first run, I’m in first place. I get bumped into second and I don’t get it back. I either crash or I screw up, or do a straight air, or all of the above.”

With Johansson on the hot seat with a stellar score the pressure was on Rheeder, once again.

Dropping in, the first few tricks looked even smoother than they had the first run down. As the run progressed, Rheeder added more combinations to features in the second half of the run. It was undeniably bigger than his first run, but would it be enough?

After a long delay, the judges released the scores.

With a 95.5, Rheeder moved into the lead to win 2019 Crankworx Innsbruck slopstyle.

“I’m relieved and I’m pretty happy,” Rheeder said. “Last year I brought some new tricks, but realistically Emil’s the one bringing the new tricks. I’ve been working as hard as I can to bring new tricks to the contest and I haven’t had any luck yet. I was really working on a handful of tricks nobody’s seen at home and I wasn’t ready to bring them here. It’s pretty relieving to be in first place with my old tricks and switching some other stuff.”

The win in Austria adds to his victory at Crankworx Rotorua to put him in the lead in the Crankworx FMB slopestyle world championships. It also keeps the possibility of winning the Crankworx Triple Crown of Slopestyle, awarded to any athlete that can win three slopestyle events in one year. Rogatkin was the first athlete ever to claim the title. If Rheeder  can win in Whistler this August,  he would become the second.