James Woods (freestyle skier)

James Woods (born 19 January 1992) is a British freestyle skier. He has won six medals at FIS World Cup and two medals at FIS World Championships [9]

James Woods
Personal information
Nickname(s)Woodsy[1][2][3][4]
NationalityBritish
Born (1992-01-19) 19 January 1992[5]
Sheffield, England[5][6]
Alma materTapton School[1]
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[5]
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
SportFreestyle skiing
Event(s)Slopestyle
Medal record
Men's freestyle skiing
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 UtahSlopestyle
Silver medal – second place2013 VossSlopestyle
Bronze medal – third place2017 Sierra NevadaSlopestlye
Winter X Games
Gold medal – first place2017 AspenBig air
Bronze medal – third place2013 AspenSlopestyle[7]
Bronze medal – third place2018 AspenBig air
Bronze medal – third place2019 AspenBig air
New Zealand Winter Games
Gold medal – first place2015 NaesbySlopestyle
Silver medal – second place2013 CardronaSlopestyle
Winter X Games Europe
Bronze medal – third place2011 TignesSlopestyle[8]
Bronze medal – third place2017 HafjellSlopestyle

Woods learned to ski at the Sheffield Ski Village near his family home.[1][4][8] He won five consecutive British national championships in slopestyle between 2007 and 2011 in Laax.[8] He took a bronze medal at the 2011 Winter X Games Europe, and that year he scored a third place at the King of style competition in Stockholm[8] and also placed eighth on his debut at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships.[10] In April 2012 he finished second in the slopestyle event at the World Skiing Invitational & AFP World Championships at Whistler Blackcomb.[11] Woods won the FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup for slopestyle in the 2012–13 season,[4][12] winning two rounds along the way.[3]

He travelled to Sochi in January 2014 for the 2014 Winter Olympics. However, he suffered a hip injury during a training session. In statements following the injury, he was said to be "progressing well", and the physios' goals were to "get Woods 100%". He competed in the slopestyle competition,[13] where he made the final and finished in fifth.[14] James got a second opportunity to represent Great Britain in slopestyle at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, where he again qualified for the finals. He performed well again and finished one spot better than in 2014, but still outside the medals in fourth place.

In January 2017, he took the gold medal in the Big Air competition at the Winter X Games XXI, having finished fourth in the Games' Slopestyle contest.[15] He went on to take the Slopestyle bronze in the Winter X Games Europe in Hafjell in March[16] and repeated the feat in the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in the Spanish resort of Sierra Nevada later that month.[17]

At the 2019 Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in Utah, Woods took the gold medal in the slopestyle competition in poor weather, finishing ahead of Birk Ruud and Nick Goepper, who had pipped Woods to an Olympic medal on the final run of the slopestyle event in 2018.[18] Shortly afterwards, he announced via YouTube that he would take a break from his ski career.[19]

References
  1. Slater, James. "James Woods' rise to Success". Tapton School. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  2. Bedi, Gagandeep (12 November 2013). "Spotlight On: British Ski star James 'Woodsy' Woods". UK Sport. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  3. Magnay, Jacqueline (17 January 2013). "Top British medal hope James Woods looking for glory in new Winter Olympic sport – 'Slopestyle'". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  4. "Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe & Slopestyle – Athletes: James Woods". Fédération Internationale de Ski. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  5. "James Woods – Team GB Athlete Profile". Team GB. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  6. "James Woods is On The Spot: 'Getting stuck in tree saved me going off a cliff'". metro.co.uk. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  7. "Winter X Games @ Aspen Mountain on 1/24/2013". afpworldtour.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  8. Williams, Shay (February 2012). "James Woods Profile: From British dry slopes to the big leagues". Freeskier Magazine. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  9. "WOODS James - Athlete Information". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  10. Thompson, Anna (4 February 2011). "James Woods impresses in ski slopestyle at World Champs". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  11. "World Skiing Invitational & AFP World Championships: 4/18/2012 – 4/22/12 at Whistler / Blackcomb". afpworldtour.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  13. "Sochi 2014: James Woods 'not 100%' for slopestyle after crash". Sport Winter Olympics. BBC. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  14. "Sochi 2014: James Woods misses out on slopestyle medal for Britain". Sport Winter Olympics. BBC. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  15. "X Games: James Woods wins gold in ski big air in Colorado". bbc.co.uk. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  16. "X Games: James Woods wins slopestyle bronze in Norway". bbc.co.uk. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  17. "Freestyle skiing Worlds: James Woods calls ski slopestyle 'a shambles' after bronze". bbc.co.uk. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  18. "'I lucked out a bit' – UK skier James Woods wins first world title". theguardian.com. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  19. "World champion James Woods 'to take some time off skiing'". bbc.co.uk. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
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