Olympia 2018: Gasser harshly criticizes gold winner

The gusts of wind were so strong that the last kicker could only be seen vaguely because of the snow turbulences. The Olympic Slopestyle final of the snowboarders on Monday in Bokwang was a scandal, the gusty wind caused dangerous conditions and Austria’s hope Anna Gasser was bitterly disappointed, 15th place was a minor matter.

The gold medal went to US defending champion Jamie Anderson (83.00 points), which meant that there was at least no chance winner. The Canadian Laurie Blouin (76.33), bronze medalist Enni Rukajärvi (75.38) won the silver medal,”It was very dangerous, I’m just happy that nothing happened to me. If I had violated myself because you are holding a contest under such conditions, that would have been bad. I am not angry with myself, I am only angry and disappointed that it was carried out under the circumstances,”said Carinthian Gasser.

All the girls wanted it to be postponed, except for her, because she knew she could do a safety run in such circumstances. Everyone was against it,”said Gasser. The organisers had already looked for solutions, but then said that if it does not take place today, everything will be cancelled.

“I don’t think that’s fair, so we were under pressure. Then Jamie said, girls, it’s not so bad, let’s try it. She was the deciding factor. I knew it was good for you. In the World Cup a contest would not have been carried out under these conditions, Gasser is certain. But there was no reason not to compete:”Olympia is every year. “Of course, it’s a pity if you train for something like that.”

The third-placed Rukajärvi jumped Gasser to the side:”It was quite dangerous. You didn’t know what to expect. Anderson and Blouin, however, said there had been no discussions before the start.

After the qualification had been cancelled the previous day because of strong winds, the final decision was made on Monday with all participants in only two instead of three runs. The bottom line was that 25 participants completed a total of 50 runs, 32 of which ended with a fall. The level was not worthy of an Olympic competition, especially as the boarders had greatly improved their tricks in the past years and the scene had developed significantly.

“I don’t know what to say. I am disappointed with the organizer that he pulled this off today,”said Gasser, shaking his head once again:”Everyone had a different wind, and really good ones like the Japanese simply didn’t stand a chance. You really have to be lucky with the wind and that you don’t get a gust. An Olympic medal decision should not be a wind lottery.”

The freestylers were sold below their value, as Gasser knew:”We girls can do more of the driving, it was not a good show for our sport. The runs in Sochi were better than here. There is so much progression in the sport that it’s a pity that we can’t show it:” Due to the slow conditions due to the upwind and upwind, many of the runners simply ended up short.

“In the first run I showed the double, I thought I might need it. Now in hindsight, after seeing Jamie’s Winning Run, I don’t think I should have risked it. But you simply don’t know that,”said Gasser. She herself grabbed the snow when she landed because she was too far away and decided not to do another trick. Anderson admitted,”In other contests, my run wouldn’t have been enough for the final.”

At twelfth place, Gasser went into the decision, did not suffer any damage in the rail section, but got too far on the penultimate kicker “I can’t even say that I myself was to blame for this. She knows that if she had landed her run, she would have been there at the front, but if the speed doesn’t fit, she doesn’t.” In the big air she hopes for fair conditions, there she is a top favourite.