Scotty James and Chloe Kim add another victory to their lavish palmarès at the Laax Open. Pat Burgener finishes in 8th place.
18.01.2025, 20:15
18.01.2025, 20:39
SDA
Australian James triumphed in the men's halfpipe for the fourth time, American Kim for the fifth time. James once again managed to put the Asian armada in its place. With his 95.75 points, the 30-year-old came out on top ahead of Ruka Hirano and Ayumu Hirano (no relation) and two other Japanese skiers.
Pat Burgener, who represented the Swiss colors in the halfpipe finals, did not manage a flawless run. However, he benefited from the fact that four of the twelve finalists fell in both runs and equaled his second-best result at the Laax Open with 60.75 points. Iouri Podladtchikov, who missed out on a place in the final by one point on his comeback, was the second-best Swiss racer in seventeenth place behind Burgener and Jonas Hasler (14th).
"The level is incredible - it's crazy how the sport has developed since I first competed in Laax 16 years ago. I almost can't believe that I made it into the top 8 in this field. I have great respect for Scotty James. He is the same age as me and has managed to reach an extremely high level in recent years," Burgener said in the SRF interview, overwhelmed.
In the women's event, Chloe Kim, the 2018 and 2022 Olympic champion, came out on top with an excellent 96.50 points ahead of her compatriot Maddie Mastro (94.50) and South Korea's Choi Gaon (93.25). Isabelle Lötscher and Berenice Wicki, who did not make it to the final in the high-class field, finished in 11th and 14th place respectively.
