11:00 o’clock tuesday 28 february
Mathilde Gremaud lives up to her role as a favorite and wins gold at the World Championships
The sports all-rounder Mathilde Gremaud, who juggles footballs and golf balls as if it were the easiest thing in the world, wins the gold medal in slopestyle at the Ski Freestyle World Championships. The 23-year-old from Freiburg won in Bakuriani, Georgia, ahead of Canadian Megan Oldham and Norwegian Johanne Killi. For Gremaud it is the first world championship gold medal of his career. She thus closes a gap in her impressive palmares.
Mathilde Gremaud wins her first world title.
Keystone
Gremaud first made waves at the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea, where she won silver in slopestyle. Four years later she traveled to the Beijing Games as a medal candidate and withstood the pressure with ease. On her 22nd birthday, Gremaud won the bronze medal in the big air. A little later she followed up with gold in slopestyle and became Olympic champion for the first time.
After the outstanding Olympic appearances, Gremaud fell into a hole. But at the latest at the prestigious X-Games, where she came second in slopestyle, she found her way back. And now also world championship gold. “Each title has its own story and is special,” said the world champion. «After the Olympic Games I went through a difficult phase. It’s all the nicer to realize that I can still bring it down and trust my abilities.”
In addition to Gremaud, two other Swiss women were in the field of twelve – Olympic star Eileen Gu and Latvian Kelly Sildaru were missing. 2018 Slopestyle Olympic Champion Sarah Höfflin fell on the second round trying to attack the podium from 4th place. Giulia Tanno had to settle for 10th place. (fsc)