Sweden’s Swartz wins career-first HomeLight Foundation Series NorAm

It was gold for Sweden in the men’s slalom at Burke Mountain on Tuesday. In his first NorAm season, 18-year-old Fabian Ax Swartz went home with a huge win. 

Swartz had a dominating first run, leading U.S. skier Noah Riemenschneider in second place by 2.43 seconds. After leading by a comfortable margin, Swartz held it together in his second run to finish in first by 3.62 seconds. 

“I’m really pleased with my skiing today and especially happy that I managed to keep it together for a second run as well,” said Swartz. “It was a very nice reward after all the time and effort I have put in through the years, and still am, since I know I have a long way to go.” 

Behind Swartz it was a battle for second and third with close margins on the second run. After sitting in seventh place in the first run, Alpine Canada’s Asher Jordan overtook with a demanding second run time, just 0.02 seconds behind Swartz. His teammate Liam Wallace had the fastest second run but was sitting too far behind in 13th after the first run for a podium position.

U.S. Ski Team rookie Cooper Puckett was sitting in fourth after his first run, 2.91 seconds behind Swartz. He maintained consistency in his second run as Riemenschneider and teammate Jimmy Krupka fell behind their first run pace and opened up the podium for Puckett. 

“To finally podium after being fourth first run felt great,” said Puckett. “The field is super fast right now so I was really happy that I could capitalize on the hard sets. It definitely doesn’t feel good to be so far out but I think everyone knew that Fabian’s race was really special. I’m still psyched to be sending it and moving up.” 

Tuesday’s race concludes the men’s February block of HomeLight Foundation Series NorAm racing. They return to Sugarloaf on March 20 to kick off NorAm finals. 

RESULTS

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