- Andri Ragettli celebrates a home win at the Laax Open: he triumphs in slopestyle.
- At the premiere of the free skiers, the 24-year-old showed a first run that was never surpassed.
- The freeskiers’ slopestyle final could not take place due to thick fog.
- In the snowboard finals, the only Swiss, Nicolas Huber, placed 8th.
After the bad weather on Saturday, the freestyle finals at the Laax Open could start on Sunday. Andri Ragettli towered over everyone in freeski slopestyle. The 24-year-old showed a strong 1st run at his “Home-Home World Cup”, which took place almost right on his doorstep. Ragettli received 79.08 points from the judges and thus took the lead.
Ruud can’t get close either
In increasingly difficult conditions – snowfall and fog caused poor visibility – no one could match Ragettli’s score in the 2nd run either. Not even Birk Ruud who won the last 4 slopestyle competitions he has competed in. The Norwegian had to settle for 3rd place. Alexander Hall (USA) secured second place.
For Ragettli it didn’t matter that he didn’t get his second run down. In front of a home audience he was able to celebrate his 11th World Cup victory – the 10th in slopestyle. At the premiere of the freeskiers at the Laax Open, two other Swiss riders, Valentin Morel in 7th and Fabian Bösch in 8th, finished in the top 8.
Women’s final cancelled
The women’s final fell victim to the deteriorating weather. As with the snowboarders the day before, the results from the qualification went into the evaluation. Sarah Höfflin, the 2018 slopestyle Olympic champion and at the age of 32 one of the most experienced athletes in the field, was able to take second place behind the Norwegian Johanne Killi. Mathilde Gremaud stayed in 4th place.
Kleveland gets snowboard victory
In the morning, the snowboarders opened the spectacle in Laax: The only Swiss in the final, Nicolas Huber, finished 8th and thus made it into the top ten for the first time this season.
The 28-year-old from Zurich received 68.35 points for his first run, but he was unable to improve in the second run due to a fall. The Norwegian Marcus Kleveland secured victory with 83.61 points.
Can’t beat the New Zealander
The women’s Olympic champion and world champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott triumphed. The 21-year-old from New Zealand prevailed with a strong run and 81.30 points; there were no Swiss in the final.