. world ski news : Lindsey Jacobellis and Alex Pullin SBX World Champions - 18 ßíóàðè 2011 - 15:23
SNOWBOARD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. Lindsey Jacobellis (USA) and Alex Pullin (AUS) are the 2011 World Champions in snowboard cross. In the ladies final, the US girl edged off best qualifier Nelly Moenne Loccoz (FRA) and World Cup leader Dominique Maltais (CAN) in a tight battle to second and third respectively. On the men’s side, the rider from down under got the holeshot on the 650 metres long course in La Molina, Spain, claiming his first ever major title. US-boys Seth Wescott and Nate Holland, the 2010 Olympic Champion and the X-Games five-peater, rounded out the podium as second and third.
The good US result with Gold, Silver and Bronze in total was outshined by the World Championship title hattrick as Lindsey Jacobellis added another WCS Gold her belt after having done so in 2005 (Whistler, CAN) and 2007 (Arosa, SUI) before.
“Luckily I had a good start. But all the other girls did also pretty well. So, I was working with my legs all the way down, trying to stay on my edges as the snow turned out to be very slushy in the turns,” Jacobellis said.
But so did also the Olympic Champion Maelle Ricker, who was about to attack the first spot but went down after catching a bit of the b-netting thus finally ending up fourth. However, the 2006 Olympic Silver medalist from Stratton, Vermont, recognized the tough competition.
“I was trying to keep hold to the lead but sometimes this is harder than catching up.”
On the men’s side, Alex Pullin was all smiles about not only winning his first title but also bringing home the first ever snowboard cross WCS medal for Australia. “I’m so stoked. I hope this is a boost for all the kids back home thus building up a strong team for the future.”
“Chumpy”, who is part of one of the smallest national crews in the circuit and therefore joins forces with the team of his girlfriend Alexandra Jekova (BUL), who finished 14th today, benefitted by a perfect start always keeping a small lead on Olympic Champion Seth Wescott until the finish line.
“I was able to bring in the best I can. Man, everyone was able to win this. Everyone was hungry for the title. It’s just amazing that I did it,” said the fourth best qualifier of yesterday’s time trials.
FISsnowboard.com
Tuesday 18 January 2011