The giant parallel slalom pits athletes against each other in a race to the finish ©FIS Snowboard/Twitter

Russia took all three medals in the men's parallel giant slalom and gold and bronze in the women's event at the International Ski Federation Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Cardrona in New Zealand.

Russia swept gold medals in the men's and women's competitions through the performances of Milena Bykova and Dmitry Loginov.

Bykova was 1.90 seconds ahead of her opponent Dita Zdarska in the first round but her advantage dropped in the quarter finals as she was only 0.42secs quicker than Elizaveta Pozdeeva.

Bykova was 0.71 seconds quicker than teammate Elena Boltaeva in the semi-finals, who then lost to another Russian - Maria Valova - in the bronze medal final.

Silver medallist Naiying Gong of China pushed Bykova for the gold and ultimately only 0.06second separated the two athletes.

Dmitry Loginov also competed at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics ©Getty Images
Dmitry Loginov also competed at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics ©Getty Images

Loginov’s final split was a slightly more comfortable win against teammate Dmitry Karlagachev as he triumphed by 0.13seconds.

Russia took gold, silver and bronze in the event as Ilia Vitugov beat Germany’s Elias Huber in the small final for bronze.

As the FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships continue in Cardrona with the final snowboard events, the FIS World Cup also began at the same venue.

Today saw the beginning of the Big Air World Cup, with Canada’s Noah Morrison topping heat one of the men’s qualifying.

Heat two of the men’s event and the women’s event has been rescheduled to tomorrow due to high winds.

The top five men in each heat will progress to the final.

In the women’s event, junior world champion Kelly Sildaru will remain in Cardrona to contest the senior event alongside several athletes from the men’s Junior World Championships who will also step up to senior level.