Echuca’s Fletcher Ball walked away with a maiden world slalom title and Brett Sands coached his country to gold in a remarkable World Barefoot Championships week in Mulwala.
Ball, Echuca-Moama’s junior sportstar winner of 2020-22, etched his name into history at Max Kirwan Lakes in his first appearance at the pinnacle of barefoot skiing with victory in the junior boys’ slalom final on Saturday, scoring a sublime 18.7 to edge out American Brett Swanbom.
The 17-year-old also qualified for the tricks final, running second in the category with a score of 7810.
Rounding out a three-peat of finals, Ball finished fourth in the junior boys’ jump, netting him the second overall behind Swanbom.
Australia finished the junior category in second behind the US, but open honours went to the green and gold in an emphatic defence of their 2018 gold medal.
Keenan Derry and Ash Stebbeings claimed the overall men's and women’s events to power Australia to the team’s gold medal, coached by the ageless Brett Sands.
After finishing runner-up on nine occasions before his return to the Australian line-up in 2018, Sands said it was special to win the world championships on his home turf.
“It’s pretty bloody exciting to win a gold medal,” Sands said.
“I had nine silvers before that comeback in 2018, then to win in Canada and back it up this time, we really smashed it this time.
“It was great in Canada getting that first gold, but for me to personally win one on our home turf, it would be up there as one of the most defining moments in my career.
“(Keenan and Ash) were the standouts, they’re the rocks of the team.
“Everyone else just blew the doors off the place. None of us let each other down, everyone had a job to do and everyone hit their mark pretty easily.”
Sands, competing in his 12th worlds but first as coach, placed third in an all-Aussie podium open men’s slalom final, scoring 18.9 behind Ken Derry and eventual champion Keenan Derry.
Sands shared the open slalom's final stage with Ball, paying tribute to his young protege after finishing fifth.
"All things considered, for him to win a junior world slalom title is pretty special," Sands said.
"He qualified for the open men’s slalom final and was cool for me and him to be on the dock together."
Echuca's Lachlan Shearer walked away with a new set of personal-best scores in both tricks and slalom, qualifying for the semi-finals in both disciplines.