In snow and fog on Saturday, Kober, Germany's Olympic medal hopeful, successfully defeated the new World Cup leader Nicolien Sauerbreij of The Netherlands in the ladies’ final to secure her season’s second World Cup win. Austrian Marion Kreiner came in third, edging Germany’s Isabella Laboeck.
On the men’s side, Austria celebrated another 1-2 punch after dominating the last PGS race at Stoneham, Quebec, Canada. This time, for the second year in a row, Andreas Prommegger was the man to smile from the top spot after defeating teammate Benjamin Karl in the final. In the Swiss battle for third, Roland Haldi crossed the finish line ahead of countryman Nevin Galmarini.
Most of the 1,000 spectators in Sudelfeld got their wish when Kober crossed the finish line with victory at the only World Cup alpine snowboarding stop on German snow. Only a few miles from her home in Fischbachau, the 22-year-old 2006 Olympic silver medalist had to handle some high expectations as well as a tough hill on the way to her career’s ninth win.
“The pressure was very high. In the beginning, I was asking myself what I’m doing right here," Kober admitted. "It was intense. That I finally won is a big relief and just super nice.”
The decisive door-opening moment for Kober came in her quarter final heat against Japan’s Tomoka Takeuchi. The young German rider went down on the ground, but Kober's fortunes improved as Takeuchi crashed as well. “At this time, I was so lucky. From there on, I knew that fortune is with me and that nothing could go wrong anymore,” Kober said.
The defending World Cup title holder hopes that the same bad luck that befell her at the World Championships last year in Korea won't follow her to the Olympic Games in Vancouver. “In 2009, I also won the last race before we went to a major event and in the end, I came home with nothing. I hope that this win is not a bad omen. It would be a dream to earn another Olympic medal.”
“I’m very pleased with the race,” said Sauerbreij, adding that, “the good training during summer finally pays off. You just have to be patient.”
Austrian men also showed their strength on Saturday going into Vancouver. “I like this hill," Prommegger said of the course in Sudelfeld. "And despite the bad visibility the slope was in perfect conditions. You just had to ride an extreme radius. That just worked out. I guess we are all set for the Olympics.”
After the Olympic break, the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup will continue in Moscow Mar. 6 on a massive ramp built right in front of the State University in the Russian capital.
