Snowboarding: Japan's Miki wins parallel slalom at worlds

Snowboarding: Japan's Miki wins parallel slalom at worlds

Japanese snowboarder Tsubaki Miki underscores her potential as a breakout athlete of next year's Winter Olympics by winning her second medal at the freestyle world championships in Switzerland.

[Kyodo News, St. Moritz, Switzerland] The non-Olympic parallel slalom event took place at the Snowboarding World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland on the 22nd. Tsubaki Miki (Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank), who placed second in the women's parallel giant slalom, defeated Ester Ledecka (Czech Republic) in the final to win the gold medal.

The golden double was unfortunately missed. A mistake in the final cost Ester Ledecká her second title in three days at the World Snowboarding Championships in St. Moritz. The Czech star added silver in the parallel slalom to her gold in the giant slalom. Ledecká lost to Japan's Cubaki Miki in the final, and the World Cup winner avenged her defeat in the fight for gold. Even so, the three-time Olympic champion was smiling at the finish line and …