3.20.97
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The duel slalom went off without a hitch today at Stratton in Vermont kicking off the 15th annual US Open. Temperatures were around 28 degrees with large clumps of snow falling for most of the day. The course appeared to be icy and rutted pretty early on. American Burton racer Chris Klug overcame the days obstacles and took first in the men's division with a tough battle through with Austria's Dieter Happ in the final round. "I'm stoked," Klug told the cheering audience about his win. "I had to take a lot of risks to win today."
Happ must have been disappointed with the loss as he seemed to be riding strong throughout the afternoon in spite of the course and non-stop snowfall. "You really had to work from the first gate on," he explained. "In the last runs I got a little tired in my legs and because the course was really technical I had to think about all of the gates."
Third place in the men's division went to Nicolas Conte who was taken out by Dieter Happ, and fourth went to Martin Freinademez who pulled a stylish 360 on his racing stick at the bottom of his last run when he realized he wouldn't be taking third.
In the women's division Austria ruled the contest with Brigitte Koech. "It was my first US Open Victory," she said. "It felt good and was a really fun race for me. Victory is always good for the self confidence."
Another Austrian, Christine Rauter, took second and Martina Megenta was third. Eighteen year old American Leslee Olson claimed fourth after receiving a second flag for barging while riding against Brigitte Koech in the semi-finals. Olson's first barge was committed while riding against veteran US Open competitor Betsy Shaw. Olson managed to recover from the first barge and moved on to the semi-finals where the second barge automatically bumped her to the consolation round. In this final shot at the podium she lost by a disappointing .03 of a second to Magenta.
SOL | Snowboarding Online coverage of the 15th Annual US Open Continues Friday with Super G on Stratton's American Standard run.
Women's
Duel Slalom Final Results 3.20.97
Men's
Duel Slalom Final Results 3.20.97