Sochi Winter Games 2014: Competitors blast safety of snowboard, freestyle courses

Criticism levelled against builders after series of crashes mar events on Tuesday.

ROSA KHUTOR: Competitors and coaches blasted Sochi’s Olympic snowboarding and freestyle courses as ‘retarded’ and ‘far from perfect’ as a fresh series of spectacular crashes marred the events on Tuesday.

Australian women’s halfpipe favourite Torah Bright, who crashed in training, led the criticism, claiming organisers were not calling on expert course builders.

“The people who are constructing the pipe aren’t the greatest at their craft,” she said.

US star Shaun White said the course was sub-par for the Olympics.

“I’m hoping they figure out some way to make the pipe a little more manageable,” he said. “It’s definitely far from perfect.”

There were more crashes in the women’s slopestyle freestyle skiing heats on Tuesday as competitors struggled with the conditions.

Gold medal favourite Kaya Turski – the world champion – was knocked out after crashing on both her runs in the heats.

There were also numerous crashes in moguls. American Heidi Kloser tore her cruciate knee ligament and broke a thigh bone in another accident.

Yet not everyone agrees that the courses are a problem.

US snowboard cross competitor Nick Baumgartner insisted that the danger was exactly what attracted athletes to the sports.

“If it’s dangerous and scary and I overcome that and do well, that’s what I’m looking for,” he said. “I’m looking for that rush, that adrenaline.”

Howell takes women’s slopestyle gold

Dara Howell of Canada produced an incredible score of 94.20 points on her first run to take gold in the Olympic women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle event on Tuesday.

No one could get close to that as Devin Logan of the US took silver with 85.40, with Canada’s Kim Lamarre in bronze just 0.40 behind.

Meanwhile, Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway won his first Olympic title in a chaotic cross-country men’s sprint on Tuesday.

Teodor Peterson of Sweden took silver and another Swede, Emil Joensson, came through to take the bronze after a tricky right-hand bend on a descent sent three skiers tumbling.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2014.

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