Iouri Podladtchikov narrowly fails to make it to the final on his comeback in Laax. The 2014 Olympic halfpipe champion finishes in 7th place in his semi-final heat. Pat Burgener is there.
17.01.2025, 13:17
17.01.2025, 16:48
SDA
Podladtchikov would have had to finish in the top six to qualify for the final. What many observers had expected him to achieve, he fell one point short of with a ten-year-old snowboard, which he reverted to after a material defect in preparation.
"I'm over the moon and feel like I've been reborn. At the decisive moment, I showed the best run that is possible and makes sense at this stage. I still have one or two tricks up my sleeve for the rest of the run, which I wasn't able to prepare in the short time available. With these it should be enough for the final. And Lindsey Vonn, who I took as inspiration for my comeback, managed a similar position in her first race and has improved since then. So it's all good," said Podladtchikov in the SRF interview.
The 36-year-old announced his return to the World Cup just a week ago after retiring in August 2020.
Thanks to Pat Burgener, the halfpipe finals on Saturday evening (from 18:15) will not take place without Swiss participation. The man from Valais just made it into the top 12 in sixth place in his heat - in contrast to Jonas Hasler (8th), who can therefore concentrate on the slopestyle final (from 10.00 am). The 18-year-old from Thurgau qualified for this on Thursday as the best of his heat.
