Swatch Nines 2023
New Zealand is emerging from a football-fuelled haze. As record-breaking audiences tuned in to watch the England/Spain finale of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Sunday, the women of Swatch Nines were landing world firsts over in Germany. For both, that adage rings true: when you support the inclusion of all genders in a sport, it thrives.
It’s arguable that it was the women of Swatch Nines who stole the show last weekend. Or, more specifically, 16-year-old Patricia Drüwen. With dust-coated kit, the gymnast-turned-freestyle mountain biker left the Nines as MVP after landing a 540 º rotation and a backflip triple barspin.
The Nines is – and is designed to be – a place where records are broken, and 2023 has been no exception. Tom Isted took his second world first of the year with a flair downside tailwhip on the quarter pipe. Tim Bringer landed a double tailwhip flair, and Caroline Buchanan swapped the BMX for the big bike to perform a superman seat grab Indian-air in a women’s world first.
Held in a new location, on a course designed in collaboration with riders that combines skatepark features with slopestyle…the Nines has once again confirmed itself as the coolest event of the year.
