Olympia 2018: Snowboardin Anderson wins another gold medal, Mittermüller a wind victim

Under questionable conditions, snowboarder Jamie Anderson from the USA wins gold in slopestyle. Silvia Mittermüller is one of the victims of adverse conditions.

The trip to the second gold medal became a show run. Even before Jamie Anderson started her second run over obstacles and ramps in the final of the snowboarders’ slopestyle competition, she knew that I was the Olympic champion.

The American had presented a terrific performance in the first round of the final, and the competition was unable to counteract despite the high risks. Anderson found out about it at the start of the course, clapped her hands on the helmet with surprise – and was the first female snowboarder to head towards a second Olympic gold medal.

The big favourite was the worthy winner of a questionable competition. Strong wind had an adverse effect on the boarders, especially in the high jumps, Silvia Mittermüller had to give up a start after the training before the two final runs: A gust of wind caught her,”I was therefore too short and hurt my knee,”she wrote on Twitter and added:”I tried everything…. if it was the right decision? I don’t know.” Mittermüller, who is already ill, has barely done himself a favour.

The victory of 27-year-old Anderson was undisputed. In the first round she scored 83.00 points, forcing the competition to risk everything in the second round – despite adverse, sometimes unpredictable conditions. At the end Laurie Blouin (Canada), world champion 2017, was rewarded for her courage with silver (76.33 points) and Enni Rukajärvi (Finland/75.38), second behind Anderson in Sochi in 2014 at the Olympic premiere of the slopestyle competition, with bronze. Others were less fortunate.

For example, the medal contender Silje Norendal from Norway was completely exhausted after the competition with her nerves:”I was very irritated that the final was being driven,”she said and reported with tears:”I just wanted to sit up there and cry. My body trembled for two hours because I was afraid to drive,” she then drove, got fourth after a wobbly lecture and complained to Eurosport Norway:”I don’t even know what happened during the run because I was afraid for my life.”.

The excitement of the snowboarders was all the more understandable because the qualification was cancelled on Sunday in similar wind conditions. And while the competition started on Monday with a 75-minute delay, the women’s giant slalom in Yongpyong, a little further east, had already been cancelled because of the strong wind.