Back in November, before the first World Cup Big Air of the season in Steamboat, Copper snowboarder Lily Dhawornvej told Krystal 93 this season was nothing compared to her first on the U.S. Snowboard team. The 16-year-old felt calmer. More collected. More ready to face the pressure of nonstop travel, training and competition.
Yesterday in Switzerland, Lily was crowned the youngest Crystal Globe winner in women’s snowboard slopestyle history, proving she can overcome nerves and make history.
“This season has honestly been a big surprise to me,” Lily told the FIS after being crowned champ. “It’s been super fun.”
The final contest in Silvaplana was canceled yesterday for wind. In three events this season Lily finished better than any other rider with two podiums and one top-10.
“Lily Dhawornvej isn’t the future of slopestyle,” the U.S. team wrote in a statement. “She’s already here.”
Lily outpaced some of the sport’s biggest names to claim her title, including 2026 Olympic Big Air champ Kokomo Murase, of Japan, and two-time Olympic champ Anna Gasser, of Austria.
“All these girls that I’m competing with, I’ve looked up to for so long,” Dhawornvej said. “It’s been super cool to ride with them.”
It was a season of firsts for Lily. She made her Winter Games debut in February, when she competed in the slopestyle final and finished 11th. In March she won her inaugural FIS Junior Worlds slopestyle title in Calgary, beating Japan’s Suzuka Ishimoto and U.S. teammate Jessica Perlmutter.
“With a Crystal Globe already on her shelf, Dhawornvej enters the next Olympic cycle looking to build as a legitimate medal threat,” the U.S. team concluded. “If the 2025–26 season was her breakout season, the next few years could define her legacy.”
Lily is the latest Copper kid making waves internationally. Her ski counterpart, 14-year-old Lainey Steen, won three titles at Junior Worlds and her first Rev Tour title en route to a U.S. Ski Team invite.
Preview image via FIS Park and Pipe.