December 8, 2013 — Sven Thorgren claimed victory at the 2013 Air & Style Big Air snowboarding competition in Beijing. The Swedish rider emerged as the top winner in this world-class finale, defeating opponents Sage Kotsenburg, Kim Rune Hansen, and Torgeir Bergrem with a flawless and fluid Backside 1440 Mute. In the final, Sven delivered an outstanding performance in the first round on the world-class course, proving his strength in front of 1.3 billion Chinese spectators. As the champion, Sven earned 1000 WST points and a significant share of the total $100,000 prize money.
Sven Thorgren said: "Winning today is the highest honor of my career so far. Winning the Air & Style has been a dream of mine, and now it’s finally come true. The trick I landed to win is one I’ve never successfully completed before, so this victory means a lot to me."
Chinese snowboarder He Wai was the first Chinese rider to compete in the Air & Style Big Air competition. Ultimately, he narrowly lost to this year’s champion, Sven Thorgren, in the second qualifying round. He Wai put on an impressive performance, finishing 15th in this edition of Air & Style. After the event, Air & Style founder Andrew Hourmont commented on Xiao Hu (He Wai): "He Wai’s performance was very impressive; he has made great progress, and we’re glad he participated in this year’s Air & Style Beijing. He only lost to the champion Sven, so we’re very excited to see how his snowboarding career develops in the future."
