Returning to the World Cup for the first time since his bronze medal in parallel slalom at the World Championships, snowboarder Arnaud Gaudet was hoping to build on his recent success on Wednesday in Rogla, Slovenia, in the parallel giant slalom.
After the two qualifying runs, the Quebecer took 23rd place, which was not enough to secure a place in the elimination rounds. Even if the results were not there, Gaudet still said he was satisfied with the way he behaved on the slopes.
“Of course I would have liked to have done more, but in the end it was not so bad. I made a few mistakes in the first run and I had the chance to recover on the second run. It was much better that time and that reassured me. I would have liked to be better in the first run, but I’m still satisfied overall,” Gaudet told Sportcom.
Since Rogla’s course was relatively short, it was difficult for the athletes to build a comfortable lead. Every little mistake could be costly.
“The track here is short and it’s really flat. Everyone is really close to the clock. Even though I had a good second run, I wasn’t able to stand out as much as necessary,” remarked Gaudet, who finished 0.55 seconds from 16th and last place to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Also in the men’s event, Justin Carpentier saw his workday come to an end after just one run, in 45th place.
The Italians monopolized the podium as Roland Fischnaller got the better of Marko Felicetti in the Grand Final. Their compatriot Edwin Coratti for his part defeated the South Korean Sangho Lee for the bronze medal.
On the women’s side, Aurélie Moisan was taking part in a very first World Cup event on the Old Continent, having made her debut on the circuit in Blue Mountain, Ontario, last January.
Moisan performed well, finishing 21st in qualifying, less than a second behind Germany’s Carolin Langenhorst, who earned the final bye into the elimination rounds.
Anne-Laurie Bettez was ranked 39th. Austrian Sabine Schoeffmann won the gold medal by defeating Czech Ester Ledecka in the final. The Japanese Tsubaki Miki climbed on the third step of the podium.
The Canadian team has already taken the road to Berchtesgaden, Germany, where the last events of the World Cup season will take place with a parallel slalom on Saturday and the team parallel slalom on Sunday.
“I want to do the best I can to finish the season well. I mustn’t make mistakes and once I get to the quarter-finals, anything can happen, we’ll try to have fun! concluded Gaudet.
