Winter Games: Sibling rivalry to fore in slope style

All four Wells brothers (from left) Jackson, Beau-James, Byron and Jossi will be competing in the...
All four Wells brothers (from left) Jackson, Beau-James, Byron and Jossi will be competing in the freestyle skiing slopestyle competition at the Winter Games. Photo by Catherine Pattison.
All banter aside, the four Wells boys from Wanaka really are a tight band of brothers.

For starters, they are all competing in the same Winter Games event next week - the freeski slopestyle. Despite entering events all over the world together, this is the first time they will have all been in the same one with world cup status.

''It's going to be pretty cool competing against each other,'' Beau-James (17) said, fending off a flurry of well-meaning jibes from his brothers.

He will also compete in the halfpipe today but Byron (21) will be giving this discipline a miss due to a knee that is ''a bit niggly''.

''I've already qualified for the Olympics [2014 in Sochi, Russia] so I don't want to risk it,'' he told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.

The brothers tease, praise and answer for each other, but when it comes to the question of sibling rivalry, Jossi (23) sums it up perfectly.

''We are all competitive dudes but if I'm not going to be on the podium, I would rather one of my brothers was.''

As all four spent from half the year (younger two) to nine months (older two) away from home, the chance to sleep in their own beds, unpack bags they have been living out of for too long and perform in front of home crowds was welcomed, Jossi said.

''We grew up in this community and had a lot of support from it. It's cool to put on a bit of a show for them.''

Discussing what tricks might be included in the slopestyle event, at the Cardrona Alpine Resort qualifiers next Friday and Sunday (finals) did not get too technical, according to Jackson (15).

All they might say was they were thinking of such and such a trick and ask, ''Is that cool?'' ]

The brothers would pass judgement along the lines of ''Yeah, do it'', or ''Nah, that's not cool'', he said.

Wells brothers
Recent highlights
Jossi:
2010 Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) first overall and halfpipe runner-up for the past three years.
Byron: 2013 fourth at Olympic test event in halfpipe.
Beau-James: 2013 eighth in world championships in slopestyle.
Jackson: 2012 first overall national junior freeskiing.

 

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