Australia's Alex "Chumpy" Pullin transformed disappointment into joy by finishing second in a tightly fought snowboard cross World Cup final in Lech, Austria.
The event was narrowly won by Italian Luca Matteotti, who was able to grab the lead from Pullin just before the finish line. France's Paul-Henri De le Rue was third.
Pullin's podium finish, the fifth of his career, capped off a remarkable 24 hours for the 23-year-old AIS scholarship holder from Victoria's Mt Buller.
Day one of the double-header at Lech saw Pullin make a fundamental error going into a turn which resulted in his disqualification from the season opening round.
A long discussion and technical analysis with AIS coach Ben Wordsworth after his disappointing 26th place on December 7 turned Pullin's fortunes around 180 degrees.
The round two second place on the 1250-metre course pushed Pullin up to fifth place in overall World Cup standing and will provide a strong start to his dream of going one better than his number two World Cup ranking last year.
Pullin is now focusing on continuing his success when the World Cup circuit heads to Telluride in the United States on December 15.
And the World Cup third round in the US can't come quickly enough for the Australian who looks certain to reap the benefits this year from a disciplined off-season training program
Switching to a custom made board, a decision that was made after the Vancouver Olympics in February, is already paying handsome dividends for Pullin.
Pullin was third fastest on day one in Lech and continued his blistering pace into day two by securing the number one bib and headed the final contenders with a best time of 1 minute 16.46 seconds.
Pullin magnanimously paid tribute to his Italian rival after the race.
"It was a tough duel but it was lots of fun racing against Luca," Pullin said.
"I made a tiny mistake and he was there doing everything right. He deserved the win."
Coach Ben Wordsworth said that he sat down with Pullin after day one of competition and revisited their goals for this season and reminded the Olympian that he has the talent and speed to win his first international championship title.
"We were hoping to be on the podium here but we were a little unsure about how the new board would run compared with everybody else but today shows we were definitely right with our choice."
The event was narrowly won by Italian Luca Matteotti, who was able to grab the lead from Pullin just before the finish line. France's Paul-Henri De le Rue was third.
Pullin's podium finish, the fifth of his career, capped off a remarkable 24 hours for the 23-year-old AIS scholarship holder from Victoria's Mt Buller.
Day one of the double-header at Lech saw Pullin make a fundamental error going into a turn which resulted in his disqualification from the season opening round.
A long discussion and technical analysis with AIS coach Ben Wordsworth after his disappointing 26th place on December 7 turned Pullin's fortunes around 180 degrees.
The round two second place on the 1250-metre course pushed Pullin up to fifth place in overall World Cup standing and will provide a strong start to his dream of going one better than his number two World Cup ranking last year.
Pullin is now focusing on continuing his success when the World Cup circuit heads to Telluride in the United States on December 15.
And the World Cup third round in the US can't come quickly enough for the Australian who looks certain to reap the benefits this year from a disciplined off-season training program
Switching to a custom made board, a decision that was made after the Vancouver Olympics in February, is already paying handsome dividends for Pullin.
Pullin was third fastest on day one in Lech and continued his blistering pace into day two by securing the number one bib and headed the final contenders with a best time of 1 minute 16.46 seconds.
Pullin magnanimously paid tribute to his Italian rival after the race.
"It was a tough duel but it was lots of fun racing against Luca," Pullin said.
"I made a tiny mistake and he was there doing everything right. He deserved the win."
Coach Ben Wordsworth said that he sat down with Pullin after day one of competition and revisited their goals for this season and reminded the Olympian that he has the talent and speed to win his first international championship title.
"We were hoping to be on the podium here but we were a little unsure about how the new board would run compared with everybody else but today shows we were definitely right with our choice."
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