ROSA KHUTOR, Russia, February 19 (R-Sport) – Switzerland's Patrizia Kummer stormed to gold in the snowboard giant slalom Wednesday, while Alena Zavarzina claimed bronze for host nation Russia.
Kummer went into run two of the final with a 0.30-second disadvantage, but her victory was secured when Japan’s Tomoka Takeuchi fell and had to settle for silver. It is the first major championship win for Kummer, the world silver medalist last year.
Zavarzina beat Austria’s Ira Meschik to the bronze by 0.82 seconds, ensuring husband-and-wife medals in the giant slalom – her US born husband Vic Wild, competing for Russia, was already qualified for the men's final and went on to win gold.
Wild's marriage to the Siberian-born Zavarzina played a key role in his decision to switch allegiances to Russia in time for the 2011-12 season, citing the low funding for Alpine snowboard events in the US. Since then, Wild has become a snowboard heavyweight, winning world championship bronze last year and taking his first World Cup win in parallel slalom this season.
Zavarzina’s success came after two of her more illustrious Russian teammates, both considered gold medal contenders, were eliminated in the early stages of the competition.
The 2010 Olympic silver medalist Ekaterina Ilyukhina and former world champion Ekaterina Tudegesheva both went out in the last 16 after making major errors on their first runs.
Updated with detail, background, other results.
