Though her victory may have been somewhat overshadowed by the drama surrounding Ryan Gilchrist’s crash, let’s not take anything away from Harriet Burbidge-Smith. She was the best woman in the Boneyard on Thursday, outperforming the likes of Caroline Buchanan and Jill Kintner—with five Queen of Crankworx titles between them.
Not that fans were necessarily surprised. Burbidge-Smith has been the Empress of Dual Slalom this year with three gold medals from Rotorua, Cairns and now Whistler. She knocked out Georgia Astle, then Ellie Smith, then eventual bronze medallist Martha Gill en route to a finals date with Louise Ferguson. While the Scottish contender was game, Australia’s Burbidge-Smith prevailed in both of their runs to stand atop the podium.