Comment
Share
Posted on Tuesday April 6th at 2:00 p.m.
Tweet
While there are still more competitions on the 2009-2010 calendar, the 19-year-old Wells has already accumulated enough points in all three disciplines - Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Big Air - to claim the overall title.
"It feels pretty amazing [to be World Champion]," said Wells. It was pretty cool to get that text. Definitely put a smile on my face, that's for sure."
This year Jossi has shown his excellence in all three disciplines, where most skiers are specializing in one to find success.
"I have huge respect for the other athletes that compete in all disciplines," says Wells. "It's definitely not easy."
Wells is currently ranked first in halfpipe and fifth in slopestyle in the AFP World rankings.
Wells's year was highlighted by multiple podiums and top-10 finishes, including a second Winter X Games medal, a silver in halfpipe, in late January.
Wells's season kicked off in August on home turf, where he took second place in Slopestyle at the 100% Pure NZ Games. Other notable performances included a win at the Austrian Open in February and another podium finish at the European X Games.
In the Big Air discipline, Wells currently sits in eleventh place. After a string of uncharacteristic finishes in the fall big airs (Freestyle.ch, Freestyle.Berlin, and 100% Pure NZ Winter Games), Wells tied for fourth at the Winter X Games Big Air to bump him up in the standings. While Wells missed an opportunity at the Frostgun Invitational (an AFP Silver event), he can still improve his Big Air ranking at the Jon Olsson Invitational in Åre, Sweden in mid-April.
Wells was also a part of the progression night at X Games Big Air, where he threw the first switch double cork 1440, alongside U.S. star Bobby Brown's switch double misty 1440 and TJ Schiller's double cork 1620.
Despite the small changes that can go down for the rest of the AFP season, Wells' overall title is unassailable.
He acknowledged the grind of a long Northern Hemisphere season, combining travel with training, competing and offering coaching assistance to his younger brothers.
"It definitely has its challenges," quips Wells. "Pretty much every comp this year, the event loved to put training and practice times either overlapping or pretty close. On the other hand I thrive off the energy at the contests so I think being so busy and always having practice or competing had its upsides for sure."
Outside of AFP run events, Jossi also secured himself the Winter Dew Tour ‘Dew Cup' award for Superpipe performance at the Dew Tour series.
Wells also spent significant time filming a winter-long ‘webisode' series called "Winter Of Wells," and is currently on his way to Sweden for the Jon Olsson Super Sessions, a sort of an icing on the cake to his season.
"I have already been pumped on how all the comps went this year so hearing this topped it all off," said Wells, who is coached by his father, Bruce.
Currently, USA's Simon Dumont sits in 2nd place in the AFP Overall rankings and Finland's AJ Kemppainen sits in 3rd place.
"I am probably Simon's number one fan, it's awesome to see him killing it in both pipe and slope," said Wells.
"I am also a huge fan of AJ. He is one of my favorite pipe skiers to watch hands down. Every trick he does is flawless and I love that he brings some of that "slope steeze" into the pipe," said Wells. "So ‘mad props AJ. You're the man!' I also have to give a shout out to [Mike] Riddle. He is another athlete that competes in both events and is always bringing something ‘illy'."
While the rest of the AFP overall list can change in the weeks to come, Wells is a lock for the title. As the competition year draws near its end, the crown will be passed from 2008-2009 champ Simon Dumont to Wells.
Most of the AFP titles, for men and women, are subject to change, and all eyes will be on Whistler for the WSSF Pipe event, as it will be the biggest game changer left on the schedule.
Where to from here for Wells? He has his sites set on competing at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games.
Snow Sports New Zealand, with support from other nations, is progressing a proposal to bring ski halfpipe into the Olympics through the International Ski Federation (FIS).
"In the eyes of his peers, Jossi is already one of the best freestyle skiers in the world," said SSNZ CEO Ross Palmer. "The next step is to introduce these disciplines at the Olympic level."
For more information and current standings, visit the AFP World Tour website.