21-Year-Old Olympic Hopeful Snags First World Cup Win With Triple Cork 2160

21-year-old Troy “T-Pod” Podmilsak has taken a major step towards a spot on Team USA by securing his first win on the World Cup circuit.

Podmilsak competed in big air at Secret Garden Resort in China over the past weekend, which was the first big air competition of the season and a selection event for the U.S. Olympic team.

For his first run, Podmilsak pulled out a switch triple cork 1980, setting him up nicely ahead of run two. In his second run, the Park City-based skier landed a triple cork 2160 (that’s six rotations!) with a mute grab, which earned him the highest single-run score of the day and put him in first place by seven points. Podmilsak was also the only skier to attempt a 2160 in finals that day, let alone land one.

Canadian skier Dylan Deschamps came in second behind Podmilsak at 178.5 points, and Luca Harrington (NZL) rounded out the men’s podium with a score of 176.00. Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir took first place in women’s big air with a score of 174.5. Canadian Naomi Urness came in second with a score of 165.75, and Chinese Liu Mengting rounded out the women’s podium with a 165.25.

Check out T-Pod’s winning runs by tapping or clicking the video below.

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Aside from a 2nd place finish during the 2022-2023 season, this is Podmilsak’s first-ever World Cup victory. There are currently three remaining spots on the U.S. Olympic Freeski team for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games, alongside Alex Hall, who has already been named to the team. The first spots will be filled automatically by athletes with the best individual results at selection events, such as Secret Garden.

While Podmilsak can’t technically be named to the team yet with the number of points available, his performance at Secret Garden definitely makes him a strong contender.

Fellow US Freeski Team competitor, Mac Forehand, came in 4th place at Secret Garden over the weekend. A switch triple cork 1980 on his first run helped Forehand to score decently, but his nose butter double cork 1980 with a stalefish grab in run two didn’t score quite well enough to land him a podium spot. Forehand remains a contender for one of the remaining Olympic spots as well.

The next FIS Big Air Qualification event will take place on December 4, 2025.

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