Klagenfurt, Big Air. The event currently taking place in Worthersee Stadium goes across the stage, doesn’t seem to be as tailored to anyone else as the local hero Anna Gasser. After Olympic gold in South Korea and Beijing, and X Games gold overseas, she can now finally be seen in action in front of thousands of people not far from her home at the spectacle in the Carinthian capital.
Anna Gasser qualified fourth
“Klagenfurt is a bit more special for me as a Carinthian,” says the 33-year-old. The Carinthian woman finished fourth behind the three Japanese Kokomo Murase, Mari Fukada and Reira Iwabuchi your ticket for the eighth final on Sunday (from 5:50 p.m./live ORF 1). She has been impressed by the setting in the stadium over the past few days: “It is sensational what has been achieved here.”
Kristina Holzfeind jumped on a ramp in the stadium for the first time
Kristina Holzfeind (17) may not be taking part in the final today, but the Carinthian is still enjoying the event in the stadium. She had secured qualifying tickets for numerous family members who cheered her on from the stands on Friday. On Saturday she soaked up the stadium atmosphere for the first time in front of thousands of people at a freestyle event. It can continue like this. And soon she will be in the final.
The Golden Age of Snowboarding
The 17-year-old and her colleagues of the same age did not experience the golden age of snowboarding as a lifestyle with major events in Austria, when more than 20,000 people came to the event every year in the 90s and 2000s Air & Style made a pilgrimage to Innsbruck, Seefeld or Munich. The last one took place in 2017 – Anna Gasser was there then.
The Styrian has a snowboard final, not in the stadium, but in the middle of the city Hanna Karrer (16) recently experienced. And really successfully. When she came tenth in Chur at the start of the World Cup in Big Air and was therefore the best Austrian – ahead of Gasser. The 33-year-old is a huge role model for the boys, they say. In addition to Hanna Karrer and Kristina Holzfeind, the currently injured Carinthian Selin Lakatha (18) also shows off again and again. Finally she landed a double cork.
Anna Gasser’s footsteps
Three drivers who could follow in the footsteps of the exceptional athlete Gasser. “Anna has done a lot for our sport,” says training partner Karrer, who is 17 years younger than the two-time Olympic champion. “Without her, things wouldn’t be the way they are now. It’s extremely cool to have someone who took the step before us. Because when it started, there was almost no snowboarding infrastructure in Austria.”
Gasser built a lot of things on his own, and had to put up with a lot. “It’s really nice that someone is so passionate about the sport,” says Karrer with admiration.
Hanna Karrer recently finished tenth on the ramp at the World Cup in Chur
Holzfeind and Karrer visit Ski gymnasium Stams the freestyle branch. Far away from their home in the south of the country. “It’s a challenge to do school and sport at the same time. Sometimes you miss class for weeks and then have to catch up. Or being on the mountain during the day and then doing your homework in the evening.” And you still have a disadvantage compared to nations like Japan, which have a handful of top riders who could win at every event. “But our system also has an advantage,” says Holzfeind. “You look more at the individual and the passion. You not only develop in sport, but also as a personality.”