Rogatkin Rocks Canada for 9th win of season

FISE Edmonton hosted the second last FMB Gold Event of 2017 on Sunday. So, the opportunities for riders to gain some important points for the World Ranking are waning – points which may have implications for the qualification for the first FMB Diamond Event of next season. Nicholi Rogatkin doesn’t need to worry about his ticket for his next campaign, but the American still seems to find the motivation to keep on winning. Rogatkin took home his ninth win on the FMB World Tour this weekend ahead of Lukas Knopf (GER) and local hero Brayden Barrett-Hay (CAN).

As usual at FISE Events, everything was about those top 6 spots after two runs, to reach the Super Final, which gives the six best riders one more additional shot for glory. Tom Isted (GBR) was the first athlete to breach the 80 mark and nestled himself at the top of the list with a score of 81.00. He wouldn’t stay there for long though. Canadian Brayden Barrett-Hay wowed the crowd with a great run (85.00) and momentarily took the lead before Lukas Knopf (GER) showed great rhythm and a smooth run to raise the bar once more to 89.00. The 21-year-old’s run was tested by both Josh Hult (86.33, USA) and Mehdi Gani (88.00, FRA) but it wasn’t until Nicholi Rogatkin dropped in as the last rider in Run 1, that he had to give up the lead. Rogatkin stomped his run and took the lead with a score of 92.33.

All eyes were on that bubble spot for the Super Final heading into the second runs of the day. DJ Brandt (USA), who had crashed in his first outing, put everything on the line in his second attempt and was rewarded with a great 85.66 score, which catapulted him from last into 5th, pushing Tom Isted out of the top 6. Isted tried to counter, but came up short on one feature, which shattered his hopes for reaching the Super Final. Even though Diego Caverzasi (ITA) was able to improve his first run considerably, the Italian just fell short of the sixth spot (83.00), much to the relief of the Canadian supporters, who would be able to see Brayden Barrett-Hay send it with Nicholi Rogatkin, Lukas Knopf, Mehdi Gani, Josh Hult and DJ Brandt in the final run of the day.

Josh Hult however had to pass on a third showing after the veteran had gone down hard in the run before. That left Barrett-Hay to kick-off the five-athlete Super Final. The 25-year-old Canadian sent a huge run, which got both the crowd and the judges stoked. Scoring 89.00 he jumped into third place; his best ever result on the FMB World Tour. After neither DJ Brandt, Mehdi Gani nor Lukas Knopf were able to beat the leading score of Nicholi Rogatkin, the American was able to celebrate his ninth win on the FMB World Tour this season.

Check out the full results here. Photos by Matthieu Metivet and Cedric De Rodot

FISE Edmonton Podium:

1. Nicholi Rogatkin (USA) – 92.33 
2. Lukas Knopf (GER) – 90.66
3. Brayden Barrett-Hay (CAN) – 89.00