U.S. Has Strong Showing in Copper
| 13 November 2009
COPPER, CO - U.S. Snowboarding's Michelle Gorgone (Boston) kicked off the 2010 Race to the Cup series with a win at Copper Mountain Thursday. Gorgone was joined on the podium by Simon Schooch of Switzerland who won the men's race.
"It was a good day today and a great way to start the season. I just tried to ride smart and consistent without pushing myself too hard," said Gorgone.
Gorgone topped an internationally competitive podium with Japan's Tomoka Takeuchi who was runner up, followed in third place by Kimiko Zakreski of Canada.
"It was a great test competing against top athletes from Switzerland, Japan, and Canada. This really helps us judge where we are at before going into Olympic qualifiers next month," Gorgone added.
On the men's side there were U.S. riders who also made a mark on the podium with Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) taking second place and Adam Smith (Bend, OR) finishing up the day in third.
"I was really happy with my results after competing against such top caliber riders," said Smith. "It was great to come back out and start to get in the groove again. Everyone out here is fired up and is really looking forward to qualifying for the Olympics."
Olympic qualifying is set to start December 6 with the World Cup at Limone Piemonte, Italy. With less than a month to go the Race to the Cup in Copper is an opportunity for the athletes to warm up competitively as they head into qualifying.
Racing continues Friday at Copper before the Race to the Cup moves on to Steamboat Springs, CO December 11-12.
