Swiss ski cross pair Regez and Smith win mixed team gold at freestyle worlds

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss duo Ryan Regez and Fanny Smith followed up their individual golds with a victory in the ski cross mixed team finals at the Freestyle world championships Saturday.

Regez and Smith were favorites for the final, where the men start first and the women then set off in staggered order in accordance to where the men placed.

France had two teams in the final with Youri Duplessis Kergomard and veteran Marielle Berger Sabbatel in France 1 with Melvin Tchiknavorian and Jade Grillet-Aubert in France 2. Italy was the other contender.

Duplessis Kergomard led for most of the men's run ahead of Tchiknavorian but they almost collided heading into the final corner. Regez was just behind and overtook them both, then composed himself on the final jump to put the Swiss in pole position.

Smith did the rest in style, leading from start to finish and then laying on the snow to take in the win. The 32-year-old Smith had also won individual gold at the 2013 worlds.

Tchiknavorian and Grillet-Aubert got the silver medal with the Italian pair of Yanick Gunsch and Jole Galli taking the bronze.

The men's and women's parallel slalom finals took place later Saturday.

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