Competing on the debut of banked slalom Para-snowboarding events in the newly introduced SB-LL2 classification, established for athletes with an impairment in one or two legs or with less activity limitation, the American recorded a time of 1min 6.72sec to beat compatriot and reigning Paralympic and world champion Evan Strong.

New Zealand's Carl Murphy finished just behind the American duo with 1:10.47 at the indoor venue at Snowworld.

Dutch Paralympic champion Bibian Mentel-Spee continued where she left off at Sochi 2014 as she posted near-perfect runs to lead the United States' Heidi-Jo Duce and Australian Joany Badenhorst onto the women's SB-LL2 podium.

"It went well, however there was one spot where I lost a bit of time," said Mentel-Spee, whose time of 1:14.41 was almost 13 seconds quicker than that of Duce's.

"It's lots of fun and especially at the bottom of the course you can gain a lot of speed."

Bibian Mentel-Spee of The Netherlands continued her fine form from Sochi to take gold in the women's SB-LL2 event ©Getty Images



Dutch gold kept on coming in the men's SB-LL1, where 16-year-old Chris Vos posted a time of 1:20.41 beat international debutant Mike Schultz of the United States.

"I have never before won a race and I am so excited," said Vos.

"I like the banked slalom and I think I am better at it than snowboard cross, as carving is my speciality.

"[The new classification] is great and I think it is more fair this way, as snowboarding is easier for people with a prosthesis below the knee than for me."

Frenchman Patrice Barattero claimed bronze in this event.

In the women's equivalent, Sochi silver medallist Cecile Hernandez-Cervillon of France finished in 1:26.72 to beat a US duo of Brenna Huckaby and Nicole Roundy into second and third respectively.

"For me, it is very special to win here," said Hernandez-Cervillon.

"It is my first time indoor, the first time in my life to do a banked slalom and the first time in the new class.

"It all feels great.

"The snowboard cross is still my preference, because I really like jumps.

"But I did enjoy the race very much."

The Europa Cup was wrapped up by the upper-limb category which saw Italy's Manuel Pozzerle edge Great Britain's Ben Moore and Austria's Patrick Mayrhofer to gold with a time of 1:17.80.

This category is set to be contested at the World Championships in the Spanish resort of La Molina in February for the first time.

Banked slalom races continue at Snowworld on today as competitor's battle for gold in the World Cup.

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