Samková started the new year of the World Cup with third place in Chies

Bronze Eva Samková with a mustache on a veil and the winning Italian Michaela Moioliová.

Czech Snowboardcross Team

The Olympic winner from Sochi Samková won the quarterfinals and semifinals in a start-finish style. In the final, she was also in the lead after the start, but then she was defended by the defending champion in the World Championships Moioli and Gulini got ahead of her. On a short track, which measured only 700 meters, the 27-year-old Czech was unable to return the attack.

“I am very satisfied. The victory was close, but I think the third place is great at the beginning of the season,” Samkova said in a recording for the media. “I was able to influence my driving and do the things I want in the race as I felt miserable in the qualification and felt like I was just driving,” she praised herself.

“Whoever saw the race understood that Evka is in shape. The fact that she won at the start, which is not ideal for her shoulders and posture, shows her strength,” said coach Marek Jelínek.

The owner of two crystal globes, Samková, reached the first medal position after the failures of the last season of the World Championships, when she fell a lot and missed the precious metal five times in a row. He will have a chance to retaliate on Sunday, when another individual race will take place in Chiesa.

Twenty-five-year-old Glenn de Blois from the Netherlands, who made it to the grand final for the first time, surprisingly won the men’s race. He advanced from the qualification as eighteenth, but broke through the elimination races and in the final he left behind nineteen-year-old Canadian Eliot Grondin and home Lorenzo Sommariva.