Jasey-Jay Anderson Opens World Cup Season with a Spot on the Podium

Defending World Champion Jasey-Jay Anderson won the bronze medal of the parallel slalom (PSL) event in Landgraaf, Netherlands, in the first alpine snowboarding stop on the 2010 LG Snowboard FIS World Cup.“I was aiming for a Top 8 today. This is an excellent day for me to finish third. We have made lots of small modifications to our equipment system throughout the summer, and they are not done all the way through, specifically in slalom. I am not 100% comfortable with the system. We are definitely on the right path, and that’s really positive for the times to come.” said Anderson, who qualified with the fastest Canadian time and sixth fastest time of qualification.

“In the first two rounds of qualification, I slowly adapted to the new system. The line is different, the pressure points are different, my position on the board is different, so there are lots of small factors to which I have to adapt,” continued Anderson.

Anderson moved on the first round by eliminating his teammate Michael Lambert (Toronto, ON) with a 0.87 second advantage. In the second round, he came back after from a 0.28 seconds deficit to win the heat again Switzerland’s Simon Schoch by 0.72 seconds and advance in the semi-finals.

In his semi-final heat, Anderson faced up against Mathieu Bozzetto of France. Bozzetto took a huge lead after the first of two runs – a lead that proved to be insurmountable for Anderson. The World Champion in Parallel Giant Slalom acknowledged defeat to Bozzetto after trying to in vain to catch up in the second run.
In the bronze medal race, Anderson faced up against Italian Aaron March. Anderson sped up to win both runs and win the bronze medal.

“We are very happy by the way our athletes are riding, for everybody. This is the best we’ve done here in Landgraaf for a while now. So we are happy about the results,” said Sylvain Jean, Coach of the Canadian Alpine Snowboarding team. “We are a little bit disappointed with the girls as they didn’t meet their riding potential today. Still it is a huge improvement compared to last season.”

Anderson remains the only Canadian to ever step on the podium in Landgraaf, where he also took home the bronze medal in 2004.

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