Winter sports: Mogul slope: Freestyler Grasemann surprisingly third

Ski freestyler Laura Grasemann took the first podium position of her career at the mogul piste World Cup in Tazawako, Japan. The 25-year-old from Wiesloch, who had not qualified for the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, finished third in the parallel competition.

It was the first mogul piste podium for German freestylers for over 16 years. On the 15th. In December 2001 Christine Gerg (Lenggries) had also won the non-Olympic parallel competition in Steamboat/USA.

“I still can’t believe it,” Grasemann said after the award ceremony:”It’s just wonderful, she had a hard time after missing the Olympics -” and now, two competitions later, I’m standing on the podium for the first time, it feels really great.”

For Grasemann it was only the fourth top-ten place in the World Cup, the third place she had reached as tenth of the “normal” competition on Saturday in the same place. Their best result so far was an eighth place in March 2016 in Moscow. On Sunday she only had to admit defeat to the American Olympic twelfth Tess Johnson and world champion Britteny Cox from Australia.

The two Olympic competitors Lea Bouard (Wiesloch) and Katahrina Förster (Weiler-Simmersberg) finished 21st and 22nd. On Saturday Förster had finished 15th, Bouard 21st.