Mastnak wins silver at snowboard worlds
Park City, 5 February - Snowboarder Tim Mastnak won silver in the men's parallel giant slalom at the FIS World Championships in Park City for Slovenia's 12th medal at the snowboard world championships.
Pyeongchang, South Korea
Slovenian snowboarder Tim Mastnak.
Photo: Stanko Gruden/STA
Coming second in the qualifying, the 28-year-old former youth world champion was pipped to the gold by Russia's Dmitry Loginov after making a mistake at the third gate in the finals.
He beat Germany's Elias Huber in the best of 16, Austria's Lukas Mathies in the quarter-finals and Germany's Stefan Baumaister in the semis.
"This is super, I'm happy, although with a bit of a lump in my throat. I went for gold. I did great, I believe I'm fit to beat Loginov, who was exceptional and above all reliable today. It didn't add up in the end, though," Mastnak said.
He regretted making the mistake that cost him gold, blaming it on poor visibility. "I didn't see where I went, don't know what happened then, I ended up in the snow," he commented on his final run.
Mastnak will be looking for another medal in today's parallel slalom race.
"I've attained my goal, so I'll be perfectly relaxed. The course suits me well, the steep part turning into a gentle slope. It's tough though, and there's the weather conditions," he said.
Slovenia's Olympic champion Žan Košir finished fifth in yesterday's parallel giant slalom.