Wānaka snow sports athlete Luca Harrington (20) claimed the first World Cup podium of his career overnight (March 24), with a third-place finish at the Silvaplana FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup in Switzerland.

Luca was ecstatic with the result.

“To get my first World Cup podium means the world to me. It feels amazing,” he said.

“It has been a goal of mine since I was a little kid and it was one of my biggest goals of this season, so I am absolutely over the moon.” 

Luca made the podium with his qualification run after the final was cancelled due to weather.

His run included impressive tricks on the jumps and a clean and technical rail section.

Watch Luca's run here.

Luca laced together a double cork 1440 safety grab into a right double cork 1620 tail grab into a switch right double 1440 on the jumps, before impressing the judges with a huge switch 720 on the quarter pipe.

Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli took the win on home snow, with Lukas Muellauer of Austria completing the podium in second place.

Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Podium. [L-R] Lukas Muellauer, Andri Ragettli, Luca Harrington. PHOTO: Snow Sports NZ

Ben Barclay (Wānaka, 22) also qualified for the final finishing in eleventh position.

See the full results here.

This marks the end of the FIS Freeski World Cup circuit for the 2024 season. The athletes now look forward to getting some quality spring training under their skis over the next couple of months and returning to Wānaka.