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Norwegians sweep up in Beijing

Sun 04 December 11

13,000 spectators in the world famous Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium experienced a night of thrills, as Ulrik Badertscher, Torstein Horgmo and Staale Sandbech took all podium spots in the 6* TTR Oakley and Shaun White Air & Style

Norwegians sweep up in Beijing © Photo: Oakley Air & Style

With a spectacular performance in the Super Final Ulrik Badertscher took home a well-deserved victory earning him the celebrated bounty of an Air & Style champion, the “Ring of Glory,” the biggest share of the total 100,000 US-$ prize purse and 1,000 TTR ranking points in another night of snowboarding history made at the Air & Style. In the Super Final, that resembled Scandinavian championships he prevailed over fellow Norwegians Torstein Horgmo (2nd) and Staale Sandbech (3rd) and Swedish rider Nils Arvidsson (4th).

Badertscher needed a perfectly stomped Backside 1260 Rodeo Indy Grab to beat his friends and competitors out, to take home the win. On his way to the Super Final he beat last year’s winner Seb Toutant (CAN) in Round 2 and Gjermund Braaten (NOR) in Round 1. And he also won the Red Bull Best Trick Award.

Second-placed Torstein Horgmo commented on Ulrik Badertscher´s performance: “Ulrik is one bad-ass dude. We were all trying to follow the level of snowboarding Ulrik showed, doing what we could to catch him. But there was just no way to beat him tonight.”

The attendance of 13,000 spectators in the world famous Bird´s Nest Olympic Stadium
experienced a night of thrills and astonishment, proving that `boiling snow`, the meaning of Air & Style´s Chinese name , is an excellent description of the action tonight, and is by no means an exaggeration. The second edition of the Oakley Shaun White Air & Style also marked a major step in snowboarding’s quest of conquering the hearts and minds of the Chinese public!

Andrew Hourmont, founder and organizer of Air & Style: “What a night: Spectacular sports, a crowd full of enthusiasm and great entertainment. That was a true Air & Style performance tonight at one of the world´s most beautiful stadiums. We are proud to have once again proven to be the world´s premier snowboarding stadium event. The emotion and interest we have encountered here from the media and the people shows that snowboarding is on the right track to become one of the major sports adored and followed by the passionate Chinese youth.

Tonight´s result had impact on the TTR rankings:  Ståle Sandbech is the new leader on the overall rankings, and Roope Tonteri’s 12th position today was enough to keep him ranked no 1 on the Big Air Tour. Ulrik Badertscher moved to the 5th position on both the TTR Big Air Tour Ranking and TTR Overall Ranking.

Final results

Pos. Name Country Points Best Trick
1. Ulrik Badertscher NOR 91,67 Backside 1260 Rodeo Indy Grab
2. Torstein Horgmo NOR 88,33 Cab 1080 Double Cork
3. Staale Sandbech NOR 81,67 Backside 1260 Mute Grab
4. Nils Arvidsson SWE 44,33
5. Sebastien Toutant CAN
6. Seppe Smits BEL
7. Eric Willett USA
8. Mikkel Bang NOR
9. Clemens Schattschneider AUT
10. Mark McMorris CAN
11. Sage Kotsenburg USA
12. Roope Tonteri FIN
13. Ethan Morgan GER
14. Gjermund Braaten NOR
15. Marko Grilc SLO
16. Torgeir Bergrem NOR
17. Petja Piiroinen FIN
18. Yuki Kadono JPN
19. Jamie Nicholls GBR
20. Charles Reid CAN
21. An Taehwan KOR
22. Markku Koski FIN
DNS Kevin Bäckström SW

For more information visit www.air-style.com/en/id-2011-air-style-beijing

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