“It was pretty difficult, it was hard to keep the rest of the heat behind and you had to go down the course perfectly all the way and my legs really hurt now”, Naeslund said.
On the question, whether this win was maybe some kind of prediction for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games, Naeslund answered: “Yeah, I hope so. I mean, it is a good start into the season at least and then I will take it race by race and then we’ll see.”
We also saw amazing comeback performances by Austria’s 2015 World Champ Andrea Limbacher with a solid 10th place. And having gotten injured at the exact same race in Megeve (FRA) 2 years ago, PyeongChang 2018 silver medallist Brittany Phelan managed to win the small final. What a comeback, congratulations!!!
From Russia with love sent by Sergey Ridzik
PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist on the men’s side is Russian athlete Sergey Ridzik, who seemed to be just on fire today, as he smelled the Olympic air, it seems. Winning every heat of the day, he advanced until the big final.
For the big final of men, it was Sergey Ridzik, equally tall Bastien Midol (FRA), 2018 Olympic Champion Brady Leman and Austria’s Johannes Rohrweck in the start gate, waiting for it to drop for the final time that day.
Ridzik shot out as fast as a rocket to get over that first start section in first position, but Midol was coming up from behind, just to overtake him on the next roller section and going into the negative turn. In one of the next turns, Brady Leman, who was in fourth position, wanted to take the inside lane, but somehow drifted to the lower part of the course, taking Johnny Rohrweck’s space, forcing the Austrian to miss a gate and falling out of the fight for a podium spot.
That way Midol was leading the way into the next bank with Ridzik in second and Leman in third position. But already jumping into the next turn, Midol lost some speed, which he would have needed for the final roller section leading up to the final jump. This was precisely the moment, when Ridzik passed Midol and jumped into the finish, crossing the finish line as the winner of the day.
And all of a sudden, Leman seemed to have also gained a lot of speed in that final roller section, gaining more speed on that final jump and even enough to cross the finish line second with an exciting photo finish to prove that.
