Belarus netted a full set of medals across the two Waterski Jump events, with a gold and bronze in the women’s and silver in the men’s.
After a disappointing showing in the preliminary event, finishing bottom of the six qualifying skiers, Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya (BLR) rallied to produce a spectacular winning jump of 49.5m. Her compatriot, 2018 European silver medallist Hanna Straltsova, managed 49.0m on her third attempt, finishing third, with Jutta Menestrina of Finland also making the podium in second place after nailing a 49.3m jump.
Danisheuskaya said it felt “awesome” to finish her season with a win at the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019.
“This season wasn’t the best for me, I’ve been skiing well in practice but not in tournaments, so to finish strong is awesome. It felt like the season wasn’t a waste.
“Conditions today are a bit better, so that propped me up,” she added. “I got to go first today too so I didn’t know any scores, I think that helped me. Most of the time I like to go first, then I can watch everybody.”
In the men’s, Stepan Shpak (BLR) finished second, jumping an impressive 59.2m, although it was not enough to hold off a fine effort from 44-year-old veteran Vladimir Ryanzin (RUS), who was just knocking on the door of 60 metres with his 59.9m final result.
Speaking after the event, Shpak said preparation in his home country had been tricky, but he was not surprised by Belarus’s success.
“In Belarus it’s cold right now, so it was hard to prepare,” he explained. “I trained in Ukraine for a couple of weeks and everything came together. All the results were pretty close, but I’m so happy. I wanted to take something, and I knew it was possible.”
He added, “We are happy with the medals and happy to have first, second and third – three medals for us. That’s perfect.”
Meanwhile in the men’s Wakeboard event, young Frenchman Maxime Roux, who impressed in the qualifiers by winning his heat, had uncharacteristic falls on a moby dick 5 and switch 7 to drop to fifth in the final.
His disappointing showing, alongside a similarly surprising crash on a back mobe by top seed and current world champion Cory Teunissen (AUS), allowed reigning European champion Massimiliano Piffaretti of Italy to ride to victory, with Teunissen finishing second and American Guenther Oka scooping the bronze.
Piffaretti said he planned to continue his winning form through to World Championships next week in Cancun, Mexico.
“I hope to keep the ball rolling. I came here from Europeans where I won gold and I got another gold here so hopefully I can keep moving forward to Worlds.
“I feel amazing right now. I’m over the moon and I’m stoked to be able to come here and perform the run that I had planned since day one. To walk away with the gold is even more incredible.”
His fellow European champion, Sanne Meijer from Netherlands, also maintained her winning streak with a gold in the women’s Wakeboard final. Despite a nasty fall on a toeside 540, she did more than enough to stay ahead, beating silver medallist Alice Virag of Italy by a margin of 17.33 points. Jamie Lopina of the USA came in third.
