Great Britain’s slopestyle skier James Woods proved he will be a force to be reckoned with during this Olympic season as he started the new campaign by picking up a silver medal in the opening World Cup event in New Zealand.
The 21-year-old, who is the reigning World Cup champion and a real medal hope for GB at Sochi 2014, produced a score of 92.00 to lead the competition up until the last run before he was overtaken by American Nick Goepper.
Goepper, last season’s number one slopestyle skier on the AFP World Tour, posted 94.00 to demote Woods into second place but he becomes the second Briton to stand on a World Cup podium already after Jenny Jones’ silver last week.
In the women’s event Britain’s Anna Vincenti couldn’t match Woods’ efforts as she pulled out of the final which was eventually won by Norway’s Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen.
The 17-year-old had never previously competed at a World Cup event but will have been encouraged by her performance in qualifying for the final as she b