Brookes marks 18th birthday with slopestyle win

Mia Brookes (centre) on the podium in Laax alongside New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski Synnott (left) and Japan's Kokomo Murase after winning her third World Cup event of the season

Great Britain's Mia Brookes celebrated on the eve of her 18th birthday with the "best present ever" after continuing a stellar World Cup snowboarding season with a first slopestyle win in Laax.

Brookes, who turns 18 on Sunday, dominated the field at the Swiss Alpine resort, setting the standard with an opening score of 84.86.

She led by nine points after that first run - showing the kind of form that made her the youngest ever world slopestyle champion in 2023, aged just 16 - and none of her rivals were able to get close with their second attempts.

New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski Synnott finished second, closing the gap slightly with a second run of 77.29, while Japan's Kokomo Murase was third with 71.15.

Brookes' victory followed a second-placed finish behind Murase in the opening event of the slopestyle season in Cardrona, New Zealand, in September.

The British teenager leads the women's overall World Cup snowboard 'park and pipe' standings after also putting in some stunning performances in the big air competition.

She is joint top of the big air standings on 305 points, along with Japan's Mari Fukada, after finishing on the podium in each of the opening four rounds of that competition, including back-to-back wins in Beijing and Klagenfurt.

The American resort of Aspen will host the final World Cup big air event, as well as the next round of the slopestyle competition, from 30 January to 6 February.