Wānaka freeskier Ben Harrington (20) has finished in seventh place at the Snow Rodeo Freeski Halfpipe World Cup in Calgary today (Sunday January 2). 

The result is both a career best result for Ben and his first time qualifying for a World Cup final.

“That was the most incredible feeling. It was my big goal to make finals at this event and to stand at the top with my heroes and idols – that was huge,” Ben said. 

Conditions have been challenging in Calgary during this World Cup. A polar vortex has been sweeping across Western Canada since the event started with extreme cold weather warnings issued. Temperatures have reached as low as -25 degrees celsius during training for the athletes.  

Ben in action earlier this season at the Copper World Cup. PHOTO: FIS Freestyle

By early evening in Calgary it had warmed up to a relatively balmy -2 degrees Celsius, but the wind had picked up significantly adding an extra challenge for the athletes in the 22-foot Olympic halfpipe. 

Ben didn't let the wind get to him and made the most of the situation at hand. He put down a solid first run to nail the first landed run score on the board for the men this afternoon, and was pleased to land his first finals run. With a crash on his second run, he knew he had to leave it all in the pipe on his third and final run.  

Ben looked focused as he skated towards the drop in, generating as much speed as possible. He stomped his third run with an improved level of execution to increase his score to a 77.00. 

“I didn’t realise for a second, it was pretty insane to get seventh amongst these incredible skiers,” he said.  

Brendan Mackay (CAN) took the win; Alex Ferreira (USA) won silver; and Noah Bowman (CAN) rounded out the podium in third.  

It was a big event for the Kiwis, with six other athletes competing in Calgary this weekend, all chasing selection to the Beijing 2022 NZ Winter Olympic Team.  

The freeski halfpipe athletes had a huge weekend with two back-to-back World Cup events. 

Wānaka’s Gustav Legnavsky (16) placed 22nd and 17th.