Beijing Freeski Big Air World Cup: Stats Preview

2025/26 FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup – Beijing Big Air Statistics Sheet

● Beijing is the second of four Big Air World Cup events in the 2025/26 season: Secret Garden (CHN); Beijing (CHN); Steamboat (USA); and Tignes (FRA). The first three events serve as qualifiers for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

● Beijing was added to the Freeski World Cup calendar in the 2019/20 season and to date has hosted three editions of the Big Air World Cup (2019/20, 2023/24, 2024/25).

Beijing Big Air World Cup – Men

● Troy Podmilsak (USA) won the 2025/26 Big Air World Cup season opener in Secret Garden (CHN) last weekend. Dylan Deschamps (CAN) was runner-up, Luca Harrington (NZL) finished in third place.

● Secret Garden was Podmilsak’s first World Cup win. Before Secret Garden, his best World Cup finish was third in Chur in 2022/23, and more recently he was fourth in Tignes (FRA) in 2024/25. However, Podmilsak claimed gold at the Bakuriani 2023 Big Air World Championships and X Games big air gold before his first World Cup win in Secret Garden. Podmilsak is not competing in Beijing.

● Second place in Secret Garden was Dylan Deschamps’ fourth Big Air World Cup podium, equalling Teal Harle as the most successful Canadian Freeski Big Air athlete at World Cup level.

● Luca Harrington (NZL) claimed his fifth consecutive podium in Secret Garden. The streak started with Harrington’s win in Klagenfurt in January 2025, which was also his first Big Air World Cup top-three finish. This is the longest streak of podium finishes in Big Air World Cup history.

● If Luca Harrington achieves another podium finish in Beijing, he will join Matej Svancer (AUT) and Alex Hall (USA) in equal third place on the all-time Big Air podiums list with six World Cup top-three finishes apiece.

● Seventeen-year-old Lucas Ball (NZL) achieved his first World Cup  top-10 result by  finishing sixth in Secret Garden. He was the youngest athlete on the event’s start list.

● To date, no Freeski athlete has won the Beijing Big Air World Cup event twice. Tormod Frostad (NOR) won last year’s edition, with Miro Tabanelli (ITA) in second place and Dylan Deschamps (CAN) in third.

● Every previous Beijing Big Air World Cup event has featured a Canadian skier on the podium: Teal Harle was second in 2019; Edouard Therriault was second in 2023; and Dylan Deschamps was third in 2024. Team Norway has recorded two wins in Beijing:  Birk Ruud in 2019 and Tormod Frostad in 2024.  No other nations have achieved more than one podium in Beijing.

Beijing Big Air World Cup – Women

● Kirsty Muir (GBR) won the 2025/26 Big Air World Cup season opener in Secret Garden (CHN). Naomi Urness (CAN) was second, Liu Mengting (CHN) was third.

● After Secret Garden and the Stubai Slopestyle World Cup in November, Anni Karava (FIN) leads the women’s overall Freeski Park & Pipe standings with 110 points, ahead of Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) on 107 and Kirsty Muir on 100.

● Secret Garden was Kirsty Muir’s (GBR) first Big Air World Cup victory. She also has a Slopestyle World Cup win from the 2024/25 season finale in Tignes (FRA). Muir is the first British athlete to claim a win in both disciplines.

● Kirsty Muir (GBR) had a breakout season in 2023/24 when she secured two World Cup podiums. After finishing third at Copper Mountain (USA) in December 2023, Muir missed the rest of the season and most of the 2024/25 season due to a knee injury.

● With her third place finish Liu Mengting (CHN) recorded Team China’s best finish in a home Big Air World Cup event last weekend. Previously, China’s best result was Liu’s sixth place in Beijing in December 2024.

● Naomi Urness (CAN) was runner-up in Secret Garden in her maiden Big Air World Cup event. This is the first time a Canadian athlete has claimed the second spot on a Big Air podium. In Canada’s 10 previous podiums, the nation claimed four wins and three third-place finishes.

● Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) was eighth in Secret Garden, putting her on top of the all-time list of top-10 Big Air World Cup results with a total of 18. Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) and Silvia Bertagna (ITA) are now in joint second place with 17 top-10 World Cup results.

● No athlete has won the Beijing Big Air World Cup event twice. Tess Ledeux (FRA) claimed last year’s edition, ahead of Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Flora Tabanelli (ITA) in third.

● Every previous Beijing Big Air World Cup event has featured Swiss and Italian skiers on the podium. It was Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and Flora Tabanelli (ITA) last season; in 2023/24  Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) was first and Flora Tabanelli (ITA) third; in 2019/20 Giulia Tanno (SUI) was second and Silvia Bertagna (ITA) was third.

● Chinese athletes have never recorded a top-five finish in Beijing. China’s best result in Beijing was Liu Mengting’s sixth place in December 2024.