Zirkold’s first World Cup podium – ÖSV

Zirkold’s first World Cup podium

Photo: Jeba
Pia Zerkhold’s perfect season finale – the Lower Austrian finisher finished second at Mount St. Anne and took her first World Cup podium.

With a total of 31 podium finishes (11 wins, 14 seconds and 6 third places), a very successful World Cup season for the ÖSV Snowboard team ended on Sunday! As for the last podium, it was for the cross-country skier Pia Zirkold, who finished second in Mount St. Ann (Canada).

The grand final was won by Australia’s Josie Puff, the World Team Championship silver medalist from Bakuriani (GEO), but in a stunning photo finish for second place, Pia Zirkold triumphed over Chloe Trespioche of France.

The 24-year-old from Lower Austria was not only happy with her first World Cup podium spot, but also at the end of a long drought. She was the first ÖSV snowboarder since Doresia Krings in September 2007 to reach the podium in an individual race. Krings finished third in Valle Nevado, Chile. In the SBX World Cup, Zirkold improved to ninth, and SBX-Kristall went to Brit Charlotte Banks.

“I’m thrilled because after a few fourth places I finally managed to get on the podium – and that’s in the last race of the season! Today I decided to give it my all again and show what I’m capable of. This is complete, I’m the only woman in our team, but I get A lot of support from everyone and I want to thank you for that. This result gives me a lot of motivation for a tough summer preparation.” pleased Bea Zircoldwho, together with the SBX team, also received a crystal ball for winning the Nations Cup overall in Canada.

Photo: Canada SnowboardCheers in red, white and red! ÖSV snowboarders won the Nations Cup overall standings this season.

Jacob Dusk has to lay off the starter

But for the men of ÖSV, the end of the season under a star was not good! On the second day, Jacob Dusek had to give up after falling in the first race due to hip and groin problems. “I tried it, but I noticed as soon as I got back that I wasn’t at 100 percent. Under the circumstances, starting just didn’t make sense,” he said. Jacob Dusek.

In the quarter-finals, Andreas Kroh and Lukas Pächner rode in the same heat and were stopped in the struggle for the climb due to a collision with Italian Omar Visentine. For Kroh, it was the best World Cup result with a ninth-place finish, while Bächner finished 13th. Julianne Loftner and David Bickle finished 17th in the third place in their round of 16, and Luca Hammerl ended up 25th in the final classification.

The German Martin Nörl also got a SBX crystal ball by winning today against the American Jake Vedder and the Canadian Eliot Grondin. Lucas Egebar, Norl’s strongest competitor for the overall World Cup victory, had to finish fourth in the last race. As the best Austrian, Jakob Dusek finished ninth in the SBX World Cup. Olympic champion Alessandro Hammerli finished 17th, although he has only run three out of nine races this season.