Hofmeister’s dream bursts
Instead of gold there is a big snowboard debacle
02/08/2022 09:39 am
After bronze in 2018, the next Olympic medal for Ramona Hofmeister should come. She’s in top form, but then nothing works out in Beijing. Already in the round of 16 the snowboarder has to tremble, in the quarterfinals it’s finally over. Ester Ledecka repeats her gold triumph in a cool and confident manner.
The dream of an Olympic medal has burst for snowboard hopeful Ramona Hofmeister. The 25-year-old from Bischofswiesen, who won bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018, was surprisingly eliminated in the quarter-finals of the parallel giant slalom against Austrian Daniela Ulbing. It was even worse for the men: Before Hofmeister, the World Cup leader Stefan Baumeister had already failed in the qualification.
“Maybe it just wasn’t my day,” said Hofmeister, who had set her sights on gold. “I already lost my cell phone today.” It was little consolation that it was quickly found again. “I’m very disappointed. The medal dream has burst,” said the 25-year-old after her loss against the Austrian Daniela Ulbing, who was the leader in the overall World Cup. In qualifying, she had set the second-best time.
“It’s a shame for Ramona, the disappointment must be deep,” said ARD expert Selina Jörg, who won silver in Pyeongchang four years ago. Hofmeister’s teammate from Bischofswiesen and friend since childhood, Carolin Langenhorst, was also eliminated in the quarter-finals. For Melanie Hochreiter it was over after qualifying.
The Czech Ester Ledecka managed the big coup. She confidently repeated her gold triumph, silver was won by Daniela Ulbing, who had no chance in the final. Bronze went to Gloria Kotnik from Slovenia. Four years ago, Ledecka was surprisingly crowned double Olympic champion. In addition to the snowboard gold, she had also left all of the female ski racers behind and won gold in the Super-G. Austria’s Benjamin Karl won the men’s race ahead of Tim Mastnak from Slovenia and Wictor Wild (ROC).
Luck after shaking in the round of 16
“Of course it’s a huge dream to be able to fly home again as an Olympic champion,” Hofmeister said in the run-up to the games. Shortly before the start, she reaffirmed that her dream of gold was “not unrealistic”. Minor driving errors threw a spanner in the works.
Hofmeister had already trembled in the round of sixteen. In the duel against Tomoka Takeuchi, she benefited from a disqualification of the Japanese after both fell almost at the same time. However, race officials ruled that Takeuchi had obstructed Hofmeister in her fall.
Baumeister, who had been considered one of the favorites due to strong performances in the Olympic season, was only 18th in qualifying after a first weak run and a second good run. Elias Huber (30th) also dropped out early. Only the top 16 athletes progressed. Lengdorfer Yannik Angenend narrowly lost his round of 16.