the whole event. At that stage I
wasn’t even thinking about the
title. After dropping Osaka I knew I
couldn’t stuff up, but everyone was
riding so well that I didn’t think I
was a contender.”
Then, above the floating course in
Munich, Germany, Josh claimed
his first round win since 2012 and
suddenly realised he was within
striking distance of series leader
Levi Sherwood.
“After that win I thought ‘gee,
I’ve really caught up now and I’ve
beaten him in the last round’. I went
home and tried to learn a few more
tricks – and I’m sure he was doing
the same – but with the Double Flip
I was confident I’d be able to beat
him in a head-to-head again.”
“
The pressure ratcheted up as the
tour converged in South Africa
for the final round, but it was
Sherwood who blinked first when
he had an uncharacteristic crash
in qualifying. In too much pain to
continue to the finals, Sherwood
effectively handed the title to
Sheeny on a platter.
I’d love nothing more than to be the first person
However, the Australian wasn’t
worried about the overall win, but
simply focused on winning the
event.
“I’d already won the series by
making it to the finals, but the
series meant nothing to me at that
stage,” he explains. “It’s a good
bonus and it’s a dream come true,
but all I wanted to do was beat Levi
and Tom and win the event.”
“It was a bit of a weird round,
really, with Levi, Tom and Clint
Moore all making mistakes. I was
stressing out about the Double Flip,
especially the first one in qualifying,
because we were riding at altitude.
Ideally you want to do the trick
last, but you don’t want to leave it
too late in case you miss the time
restriction or you’re too pumped
up from being nervous about it.
I try and put the Double Flip in
the middle of my runs, but every
jump before it I’m thinking about
it constantly and it’s really hard to
block out.” u
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