Greg Bretz, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., leads Wednesday's qualification round in a World Cup halfpipe contest in the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi, Russia. (photo: GEPA pictures/Daniel Goetzhaber)

Clark and Hiraoka Win in Sochi Olympic Halfpipe

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.

Greg Bretz, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., leads Wednesday's qualification round in a World Cup halfpipe contest in the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi, Russia. (photo: GEPA pictures/Daniel Goetzhaber)
Greg Bretz, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., leads Wednesday’s qualification round in a World Cup halfpipe contest in the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi, Russia. (photo: GEPA pictures/Daniel Goetzhaber)

“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.

“I definitely wanted to land my second run with my 9, but the pipe has been a bit verty for some of my tricks and I made the right call during my first run that was a little mellower, but I am looking to add some tricks to that run for next year,” she added.

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

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