An unbelievable amount of spectators filled the centre of Bad Gastein Saturday evening to marvel at the performances of the world’s top 18 freestyle skiers. The 16 year old Swedish youngster Oscar Scherlin secured first place in the final and thus won himself a brand new Suzuki Grand Vitara. Russ Henshaw (Australia) and Oskari Raitanen (Finland) completed the podium. The Salzburg Winter sports location Bad Gastein was bursting at its seams.
1410 cubic metres of snow was processed in order to bring the freestyle skiers into the city centre. The athletes demonstrated acrobatics, creativity and style on the most demanding freestyle skiing course in Europe.
“I have never experienced anything like this. I have never skied such a difficult course, and I have never shown my skills in front of this kind of setting. I am speechless”, the Swede barely managed to put his victory into words. The Australian runner-up Russ Henshaw said: “It is unbelievable. Those corners, jumps, rail gaps etc. were absolutely amazing. When I was at the start and saw all the people down there, my knees started shaking. Oscar Scherlin was in a class of his own today, and he really deserved to win the competition and the car.”
Scherlin dominated the competition right from the onset and managed to convince the four-person jury. In both the quarter and semi final, the youngster secured the top score. In the final duel between himself and Russ Henshaw, Scherlin managed to drive a comfortable 28 point margin home on the 400-meter course. Last year’s champion, Charles Gagnier (CAN) had to concede defeat as early as the quarter final. Marlon Holzmann from Vorarelberg was the best Austrian – and was among the best eight athletes. Martin Misof (Tyrol) und Patrick Tritscher (Styria) failed to qualify.
The skiing star Daron Rahlves, who was a spectator at Bad Gastein paid tribute: “You really need guts to take on this course. The guys gave us plenty of action and they all deserve our respect.”
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