Lesley McKenna received 400 FIS World Cup points in the penultimate Halfpipe contest of the 2001/2002 Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup in Ruka (FIN). Lesley is current sitting in 5th place in the FIS World Cup rankings with one competition to go.

MEN:
1. MICHAELIS, Jan (GER)
2. AUTTI, Antti (FIN)
3. HAST, Mikka (FIN)
4. ERATULI, Jukka (FIN)

WOMEN:
1. PEDERZOLLI, Nicola (AUT)
2. KURKINEN, Heidi (FIN)
3. WEHR-HASLER, Sabine (GER)
4. BOURDIER, Valerie (FRA)
6. MCKENNA, Lesley (GBR)

Ruka (Finland). Pure sunshine accompanied the ninth Halfpipe contest of the 2001/2002 Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup today at Ruka, Finland. German rider Jan Michaelis and Nicola Pederzolli from Austria claimed the wins.

Once more Saint Peter proved himself to be a snowboarder and it looks as if Halfpipe is his favourite discipline – the conditions could have hardly been any better for the penultimate World Cup event, taking place at about 150 kilometers south of the arctic circle and 40 kilometers from the Russian border. After eight competitions Germany’s Jan Michaelis was leading the Halfpipe standings with Risto Mattila from Finland sitting behind by 620 points. Michaelis needed to finish sixth to keep the yellow bib and he was looking strong in the qualification but when it came to the finals the Germans had to stand some scarry moments. Michaelis crashed right at his first trick in the first run and dropped back to tenth position. With a reversed start order in the second run he was the first to go then and he put everything into it to finally claim his second World Cup win this season. “After the first run there was nothing to lose anymore,“ he said, “so I just let it go to do better because it could not get any worse... I have been pretty nervous again before my first run but the crash there really motivated me and it was so much fun then in the second run. I always try to show nice tricks so I’m glad I could do 1080, 720 and another 720 in a row for the first time and this also makes me a bit proud.“ Finish rider Antti Autti has been in the lead after the first run and was the last rider at the start in the second run. With Michaelis having taken it over, the pressure was on the Fin and he finally failed to stand it. He was lacking speed, crashed when landing in the flat and there was no way for him to close the gap anymore so he pulled second. “I’m not disappointed since I don’t think there was any chance for me to beat him today,“ he said. “Even if I had improved in my second run, he would still have been ahead. I’m not disappointed since this is my first year on the World Cup and for me it is always nice to even make it to the finals. Also I really enjoyed competing today in front of my home crowd.“ His fellow countryman Miikka Hast pulled third. “I’m really happy,“ he said, “it’s always better to win but I’m fine with the result. The pipe was pretty good today – David Ny did a great job shaping it, it so much improved compared to the training so it was nice to ride it today.“

Risto Mattila has been in third place after the first run but could not further improve in the second and finally finished sixth. With Michaelis winning at the same time, the German does not only keep the lead but is already safe to take the Halfpipe chrystal globe. “This is amazing,“ he said, “so I can relax a bit and enjoy the last event in Sweden then. I was so disappointed that I got insured at the Olympics when I was qualified for the finals with the World’s best riders and I will never know what I would have done there so it is great I win the title.“ Mattila keeps second place in the standings ahead of his fellow countryman Heikki Sorsa who did not compete today.

Nicola Pederzolli from Austria has been leading the standings most of the time this season but Germany’s Sabine Wehr-Hasler theoretically still had the chance to defend her title. With a great first final run Pederzolli took the lead and none of her rivals could get even close again so she got the fourth victory under her belt today. “I usually have a lot of routine but I was pretty nervous today and maybe this was the reason why I didn’t look safe in the second run,“ she said. “Now I can’t wait until the season is over since I start to lose my energy – I’m so happy that it’s fixed now. The pipe was a bit slow although is was pretty icy but I did not have problems to deal with it.“ Heidi Kurkinen got the Finish team a third podium with finishing second – she had convinced with two clean and solid runs and looked relieved when checking the score. “After my first run I was planning to repeat it and just wanted to go bigger to attack for first place,“ she said, smiling, “but I’m really happy with second, my best ever, much more than what I expected. It was so much fun to compete here in Finland which I have always liked. I am now looking forward to next week, I got a lot of motivation.“
Pederzolli will pick up her World Cup globe next week in Tandadalen and Wehr-Hasler can’t be beaten for second place anymore. Valerie Bourdier from France who finished fourth today still sits in third.

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