Sochi, Russia – Olympic champion Kelly Clark, of W. Dover, Vt., took a dominating win under the lights at a challenging Olympic test event in the Sochi halfpipe on Thursday evening. Japan’s Taku Hiraoku won for the men.
It was the first World Cup in the Sochi halfpipe at Rosa Khutor near Krasnaya Polyana in the mountains outside of Sochi. Warm temperatures on finals day caused great difficulty for athletes with bumps and ruts developing in the softened base and transition impacting speeds. Clark won with an 88.25 on her first run in the FIS Snowboard World Cup, a frontside air, backside 540, frontside 1080, cab 720, frontside 540, and backside air, over Australia’s Holly Crawford with 78 points, while Sophie Rodriguez of France took third with 73 points. Last week’s Burton European Open champion, Steamboat Springs, Colo.’s Arielle Gold, fell on both runs.
“It was challenging this week due to the warm weather, but the event organizers made the right call to make practice at the right time and did their best to maintain the conditions,” Clark explained. “I’m pleased with how the event went tonight for me and, realistically, moving forward this could be a similar situation next year. So I chalk it all up to experience and I am happy with my riding.
Scotty Lago, of Seabrook, N.H., finished third in men’s behind 17-year-old Hiraoku and World Champion Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland. Greg Bretz, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., led his qualifying round on Wednesday but had issues with speed and fell on both of Thursday’s competition runs.
“It has been tough conditions with the warm weather but I’m very happy about my first win,” said Hiraoku, the 2013 World Championships runner-up.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Snowboard World Cup
Sochi, Russia – Feb. 14, 2013
Halfpipe
Women
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
| 1 | 8 | CLARK Kelly | 1983 | USA | 88.25 | 1000.00 |
| 2 | 1 | CRAWFORD Holly | 1984 | AUS | 78.00 | 800.00 |
| 3 | 5 | RODRIGUEZ Sophie | 1988 | FRA | 73.00 | 600.00 |
| 4 | 20 | HOLLINGSWORTH Ellery | 1991 | USA | 69.50 | 500.00 |
| 5 | 21 | FARRINGTON Kaitlyn | 1989 | USA | 65.00 | 450.00 |
| 6 | 2 | LIU Jiayu | 1992 | CHN | 62.25 | 400.00 |
| 7 | 6 | BRIGHT Torah | 1986 | AUS | 59.75 | 360.00 |
| 8 | 30 | SADAR Cilka | 1991 | SLO | 52.00 | 320.00 |
| 9 | 10 | HIGHT Elena | 1989 | USA | 42.75 | 290.00 |
| 10 | 25 | FURIHATA Yuki | 1985 | JPN | 42.50 | 260.00 |
Men
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
| 1 | 3 | HIRAOKA Taku | 1995 | JPN | 90.25 | 1000.00 |
| 2 | 19 | PODLADTCHIKOV Iouri | 1988 | SUI | 84.50 | 800.00 |
| 3 | 17 | LAGO Scott | 1987 | USA | 83.25 | 600.00 |
| 4 | 4 | ZHANG Yiwei | 1992 | CHN | 82.75 | 500.00 |
| 5 | 6 | HALLER Christian | 1989 | SUI | 81.00 | 450.00 |
| 6 | 2 | LONGO Arthur | 1988 | FRA | 78.00 | 400.00 |
| 7 | 5 | JONG, DE Dimi | 1994 | NED | 66.00 | 360.00 |
| 8 | 35 | JOHNSTONE Nathan | 1990 | AUS | 52.00 | 320.00 |
| 9 | 36 | AONO Ryo | 1990 | JPN | 51.25 | 290.00 |
| 10 | 51 | VITO Louie | 1988 | USA | 40.00 | 260.00 |