Following the preliminary round of the Men’s Slopeside event on Thursday, Chas Guldemond has put the pressure on himself to perform the next time he heads down the controversial course at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Despite the competition beginning in Sochi, talk still continued regarding Shaun White’s decision to abandon the slopestyle event. White jammed a wrist earlier this week in a practice round and decided the difficult Sochi course might be too much of a risk for White, who is pursuing a third straight gold medal in halfpipe.
That left the U.S. team with just two slopeside competitors – Guldemond and Ryan Stassel.
Although Guldemond, a Northstar California rider, had a strong showing, his score of 86.0 score was only good enough for fifth place in his heat. The top four finishers advanced to Friday’s Men’s Slopestyle finals.
Jamie Nicholls of Great Britain bumping Charles Guldemond, who is ranked No. 2, away from the automatic qualification spot, with a score of 86.75. Stassel had a score of 81 in Heat 2, putting him in 9th place.
Staale Sandbech, recovered from a disappointing opening run, had dominant score of the first heat. The Norwegian fell during his initial attempt, producing a horrible score of 45.25. However, the medal contender only needed one more opportunity to highlight his potential.
Sandbech had a second-run score of 94.50, the top mark of the day.
Guldemond has been snowboarding since 1996, competing since 1997, and turned pro in 2006.
