The men’s snowboard halfpipe competition is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, but the course is a nightmare, according to athletes in a scathing Yahoo! Sports report.
Sochi 2014: Snowboarders complain about subpar halfpipe conditions
24 hours before the start of halfpipe competition, snowboarders have raised concerns about the quality of the venue at the Sochi Olympics.
Cameron Spencer
American snowboarder Danny Davis ripped the International Olympic Committee, essentially saying that they were too cheap to properly build a suitable halfpipe for these Olympics.
“The IOC probably didn’t want to pay the right guys to do it,” Davis said. “I’m pretty sure what they’re focused on is keeping as much money in their hands as possible. That’s the shame of it all. All these kids, myself included, worked very hard to get here. And then the pipe is just no fun and boring and [expletive]. Halfpipe is super fun. But riding a crappy pipe and having to perform in it is the worst.”
The issues with the halfpipe are not safety related, but athletes feel that the quality of the venue will hurt the strength of competition on the sport’s biggest stage. 60 degree temperatures in Sochi on Monday aren’t helping workers who are trying to improve the halfpipe for competition on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
American Shaun White has dominated men’s halfpipe in recent years, winning Olympic gold at both the 2006 Games and the 2010 Games. White also won gold in halfpipe at the 2011, 2012 and 2013 X Games.
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