While it has been six years since she last stood atop the World Championships, China’s Cai Xuetong has remained amongst the halfpipe world’s elite during that period, earning the halfpipe crystal globe in 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2021/22, while also taking the Park & Pipe overall globe in 2019/20 to bring her career globe total to 10 - second-most of all time.

On Friday in Bakuriani the 29-year-old Cai Xuetong was once again on top of her game, stomping a first run that would stand up to all challengers throughout the morning.

Leading off her run with a huge frontside 900 tuck knee, Cai Xuetong would then go into a backside 540 Weddle, then a massive air-to-fakie melon, into a switch frontside 720 tail grab, before finishing it all off with a super stylish alley-oop backside rodeo 540 melon and riding out clean for a score of 90.50 and Bakuriani 2023 gold.

The silver medal would go to Elizabeth Hosking (CAN), as the 21-year-old became the first Canadian woman ever to hit the halfpipe World Championships podium with her 85.50-scoring first run.

With the biggest top-to-bottom amplitude of any in the women’s finals, Elizabeth Hosking’s run began with a backside 540 Weddle grab, into a massive frontside 720 where she just tickled the melon grab, into a switch crippler with a frontside grab, then a corked frontside 540 frontside grab, before finishing it all off with an alley-oop frontside 540 frontside grab.

Third place and the bronze medal belonged to Mitsuki Ono of Japan, as the top qualifier from Wednesday came through with a second run that started with a switch frontside 720 frontside grab, into a frontside 540 tail grab, then a backside 540 Weddle, then a frontside 720 frontside grab, and finally a switch frontside 900 melon to end it with a bang and earn Japan’s first women’s halfpipe World Championships medal since 2017.