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Chumpy’s sour luck

17/2/2013

 
Dual World Champion Alex “Chumpy” Pullin was dealt a tough reminder of the misfortune that can sometimes accompany snowboard cross racing when he was taken down, while headed for a certain podium position, in the closing stages of today’s World Cup final and the test event for next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Competing in his fifth final in as many events this season and the first since winning the World Championship, the Australian Institute of Sport rider crashed while in third place, and challenging for second, as the six finalists raced towards the finish line.

Pullin’s fall, brought about by Frenchman Pierre Vaultier crashing in front of him, pushed the Australian down to fifth place.

Austrian Alessandro Haemmerle recorded his debut World Cup victory, American Alex Diebold was second and Austrian Markus Schairer, was third.

Until the incident that knocked Pullin out of contention, he and Vaultier were vying for the lead through most of their final run down the mountain.

“I got out and Pierre took the lead. I thought this was perfect,” Pullin said.

‘He’s a rider I can trust. I chased him down, riding really clean, holding good distance from the others, which was where I wanted to be.

“Came into the straight where I had excellent speed all day, opened it up, went to make a move down the inside on the straight, he cut across and we had a bit of a connection.

“That was a bummer because that shut down a move I was looking forward to take into the lead.

“Lost a lot of speed there, sort of dropped back into third, picked up speed again in the next two banks and was really drafting heavily and was looking to go for second over the last jump and just as we took off, I was coming in with greater speed, I saw Pierre hook his edge on the take-off.

“I can’t blame him for it because he is an absolutely fantastic rider and I’d never expect that to happen following a guy like him.

“He went down. I could see it was going to happen. I was sort of to his right and when he landed his board flicked off and on landing I ran straight into his board at about 70 kilometres an hour.”

Despite his unavoidable poor luck, the Australian was philosophical about the result, perhaps partly due to the fact that he leaves Sochi retaining the world number one ranking and with a bank of other positives.

Pullin, nursing a bruised shin which is not expected to cause further problems, said that his aim of starting the planning process for next year’s Winter Olympic Games had been achieved.

“There is a lot for me to take away from this event,” Pullin said.

“Plenty to analyse and develop a strategy for when we come back next time. The main thing is that I’m really fast. It’s always good to have the speed. I feel really calm when I’m racing and being able to make really good decisions.

‘It’s an extremely tricky course to race.”

Being second fastest in yesterday qualifying session and racing so convincingly in the rounds leading up to the final has given Pullin a lot of confidence looking towards returning to Sochi in February next year to chase his Olympic dream.

In other results with Australian athletes, Belle Brockhoff also won through to the final, her second in World Cup competition this season, finishing sixth.

“I had a lot of luck on my side coming into the final,” Brockhoff said. “A lot of girls did crash but it was a good day.
In the medal round, Dutchwoman Bell Berghuis crashed in front of Brockhoff, which presented the Australian with a quick decision to make.

“I saw Bell Berghuis crash in front of me and it was a case of either taking her head off or crashing into the gate. I crashed into the gate.

“The Italian girl passed me and won. I came sixth and I’m pretty happy with that.”

Italy’s Michela Moioli took the gold medal, with Frenchwoman Nelly Moenne Loccoz second and Norwegian Helene Olafsen third.

Australia’s Cam Bolton qualified to the knock out rounds but finished 4th in his heat, which meant that he did not go further in the competition. Bolton finished 32nd overall.

Chumpy is world number one

3/2/2013

 
PicturePodium men at SBX World Cup Blue Mountain © Marc Landry
Australia’s Alex “Chumpy” Pullin’s brilliant season gathered even more momentum when he grabbed the world’s number one ranking following a hard fought second place in the snowboard cross World Cup final in Blue Mountain, Canada, today.

While the Australian Institute of Sport snowboarder had his eyes on another victory, he clearly underlined that he is the benchmark athlete in this year’s series, being the only SBX rider to win through to every World Cup final contested so far this season.

He said he was pleased to back up his history making second world crown a week ago with today’s gripping battle, which almost resulted in another win.

However, Canadian Christopher Robanske finished narrowly in front of the Australian, while former World Championship medallist, American Nick Baumgartner, was third.

Pullin delivered a strong follow up to his World Championship defence in Stoneham, Canada, on January 26 when he was third fastest in yesterday’s qualifying session, a winner in the first knock out final and a quarter final, second in the semi-final, before being edged off the top podium step by the Canadian in the last race of the day.

Pullin said he was determined to keep the pressure on his opponents after the World Championship win.

“I knew going into this event that there was expectation on me to again do well and the last thing I wanted was not to put in a good performance today,” Pullin said.

“But I knew that if I kept the positive mental state that I have maintained all season, make sure I continue to enjoy racing and have fun, that everything will come together.

“This is what I’ll be doing for the rest of the season, making sure I continue enjoying the racing.”

Pullin’s podium finish, the eighth of his World Cup career, pushes him 320 points clear of the second ranked Robanske in the chase for the coveted Crystal Globe, which is awarded to the athlete who finishes the season with the most points.

Pullin won the Crystal Globe in the same year he collected his first World Championship title in 2011.

AIS snowboard program head coach Ben Wordsworth said that he and Pullin had two goals at the start of the season – to successfully defend the World Championship and to record another World Cup series win.

With one of those goals in the bag, they are approaching the remaining nine rounds, including one in Sochi, Russia, the venue for next year’s Winter Olympic Games, with a great deal of determination.

“There were a lot of passes in the final with Chumpy going from second to fourth and back to second,” Wordsworth said.

“It’s always difficult to come off a big win like the World Championships and get back up and motivated to do well again the following week but he rode really well today.

“He learned a lot last year and now he is racing well, riding well and with all the hard work he put in over the break, it is a credit to him. He deserves everything.

“He is now looking forward to Sochi to make sure he is fast on that course.”

It was also a positive weekend for other Australian snowboard cross riders with NSWIS athlete Cam Bolton finishing in 17th, after posting the fifth fastest qualifying time while talented teenager Jarryd Hughes was 24th in qualifying and 32nd overall.

In the women’s draw, NSWIS scholarship holder Belle Brockhoff was 16th

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