Snowboard crosser Eva Adamczyk finished the second race of the World Cup in Sierra Nevada after falling in the quarterfinals and did not follow up on Saturday’s second place. In the final standings, she was ranked 16th, which is her worst ranking of the season.
The Czech men did not succeed in the race this time. Jan Kubičík and Radek Houser, after the highs of their lives on Saturday, when they won sixth and seventh place, were eliminated in the first round today, Kryštof Choura finished in the round of 16.
Reigning world champion Adamczyková won her round of 16 race today and held on to first place in the quarterfinals. But in the last banked turn, she drove into deep snow on a broken track at the pole and fell. Two other competitors also fell through her in a mass carom and all ended up off the track.
“In the last corner I flew into the last pit, there was a hole or a bump and it totally kicked me. It was fast, I didn’t have time to save anything, my helmet crunched, my head hurts, but I’m fine,” Adamczyková said in a recording for the media. “I’m glad that I’m healthy and that she went her own way, I hope that the girls will be fine. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t do anything about it,” she stated.
The referees put the Olympic champion in last place in the heat with a yellow card. Together with the Swiss Sina Siegenthaler, who was the only one to reach the finish line, they sent Belle Brockhoff on. But the Australian did not enter the semifinals.
“The race was a bit tighter than yesterday, which was probably due to the weather, we went for it more than yesterday. I was looking forward to pushing it further, I had good starts… But I’m leaving healthy and I’m looking forward to the next races, ” added the Olympic winner from Sochi 2014.
The referees finally withdrew the yellow card for Adamczyk. Coach Mark Jelínek did not like the jury’s original verdict because he did not notice any violation of the rules. “She didn’t take risks and didn’t do anything against the rules. At the same time, she was disqualified, and even though all three competitors fell off the track in the same place and Eva reached the finish line second, they didn’t let her continue in the races. It doesn’t seem like a completely reasonable decision to me,” said Jelínek.
The Italian Michela Moioli was happy about the victory and moved to second place behind today’s fourth Chloe Trespeuch from France in the series ranking. Adamczyková fell from second place to sixth.
Among the men, Frenchman Merlin Surget won. Jelínek attributed the results of the Czech representatives to the difficult lot, which in the system of races without qualification decided the deployment to the first round. “The boys have few FIS points, that’s why they started against the best and didn’t choose the track. It’s a huge handicap on this track,” stated Jelínek.
