Fourth in the qualifiers

“Mama” Gasser calculated her way into the final in the stadium

Anna Gasser only had to admit defeat to three Japanese women in the qualifiers.

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL / APA / picturedesk.com)

Snowboard queen Anna Gasser jumps for World Cup victory in Klagenfurt on Sunday after finishing fourth in qualifying. Some girls slammed into the boards. On Saturday, the stage belongs to the freeskiers.

Sovereign! Little impressed by the 45-meter ramp in the Wörthersee stadium, Carinthia's snowboarding figurehead Anna Gasser jumped into the big air final on Sunday in fourth place behind three Japanese girls. "I calculated what it would take to make the top 8 - luckily that worked out. But I'll have to take full risk in the final," says Gasser, who was completely satisfied with the conditions.

Anna Gasser (center) with Hanna Karrer from Styria and Kristina Holzfeind from Villach.

(Bild: Kuess Josef/Kuess)

"The helpers did a great job - the landing was still icy in training, so they did a good job of loosening it up. The change from light to shade was really difficult! We have floodlights in the final - it will be even more spectacular," emphasizes Gasser, who went home to Millstatt today, Friday, but is leaving open a visit to the freeski aces on Saturday.

The oldest of them all
At 33, she is by far the oldest starter, and could even be the mother of some of them - of the 22 athletes in the qualifiers, none (!) apart from Gasser was born before the turn of the millennium. At 24, Ariane Burri (Sz) is the second oldest, while Lili Dhawornej (US) is the youngest athlete to make it into tomorrow's final at the age of 15.

It's good for our sport that so many young people are coming through.

Anna GASSER

"It's a good sign for our sport - the density is getting bigger and bigger," says Gasser, who is considered a pioneer in her discipline. The Millstätter is also the only (!) Olympic gold medal winner in snowboard big air to date - she won the title at the premiere in South Korea in 2018 and in Beijing in 2022.

Big Air World Cup Klagenfurt

• Snowboard. Qualification, women: 1. Murase (Jap) 183.25 points, 2. Fukada (Jap) 180, 3. Iwabuchi (Jap) 163, 4. Anna Gasser 157.75, 5. Brooks (Gb) 155.5, 6. Dhawornej (US) 151.5, 7. Suzuki (Jap) 146.25, 8. Not qualified: 12. Hanna Karrer (St) 125.5, 19. Kristina Holzfeind 83.25. Sunday: Qualification men (10 a.m.), final men and women (6 p.m., live on ORF eins).
• Ski Freestyle. Qualification, women: 1. Liu (Chn) 169 points, 2. Tabanelli (It) 160, 3. Gremaud (Sz) 154.8. Saturday: Qualification men (9.45 am), final men and women (4.30 pm, live on ORF eins and ARD).

Kristina Holzfeind (17) from Villach missed out on qualifying for the final in 19th place. "But I'm happy that I landed the jumps the way I wanted to. But there is room for improvement."

This is how a big air event works
In the final on Sunday, the eight best jumpers from the qualification (the men will compete on the competition day) will compete for victory. Everyone has three jumps - the two best are judged. A six-member jury pays attention to the difficulty, execution, creativity and style - and awards points from 1 to 100. The average is then scored.

The athletes reach a height of up to eight meters.

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL / APA / picturedesk.com)

On the approach from the 45-metre-high tower, the athletes reach a speed of up to 70 km/h - after the take-off on the take-off table (14 meters above the ground), however, they are slowed down by the resistance with an air gap of up to eight meters. However, because the outrun in the stadium is only 30 meters long, many athletes already had great difficulty braking in the women's qualification and therefore crashed into the padded railing.