Bakuriani World Championships: Snowboarder Norl wins silver

World Championships in Bakuriani

Status: 01/03/2023 4:12 PM

Martin Norl was the first German snowboarder in 22 years to win a World Championships medal. The 29-year-old from Lower Bavaria took home the silver in a dramatic race in Bakuriani, Georgia, making it Germany’s first precious metal on ice in the discipline since second place to Markus Ebner in 2001.

Cross specialist Martin Norl was the last remaining hope for a German medal on snow at the World Championships in Bakuriani. The overall leader of the World Cup confidently reached the final. It was a close and exciting race. Nörl finished around the same time as Jakob Dussek – the victory was awarded to the Austrian after a photo finish.

But the Bavarian had to wait a long time to confirm the silver medal. Alessandro Hammerli (AUT) fell and complained. The jury looked at the pictures for a long time and decided that Nörl did not hinder the Olympic champion. Then it became official: the 29-year-old won the long-awaited medal in his fifth appearance at the World Championships. Italian Olympic bronze medalist Omar Vicentine took home the bronze.

There was no sign of disappointment in Nurl after his “little nail-biting”. Instead, he thought it was “fantastic” to now call himself Vice World Champion: “I’m glad it worked out that way, my boards have been incredibly strong.”

For junior world champion Leon Ulbricht, it ended up in the quarter-finals, and Leon Backhaus failed in the round of 16. Paul Berg, who finished sixth at the last World Championships in Edre, Sweden, withdrew in the first round.

Jana Fischer achieved the best result. The 23-year-old reached the semi-finals. But the competition with Olympic champions Lindsey Jacoblis (USA) and Eva Adamczekova was too strong. In the minor final, Fisher finished sixth – her best result of the season.

Two of the leading world title favorites failed prematurely: defending champion Charlotte Banks of Great Britain was eliminated in the round of 16. Overall World Cup leader Chloe Trespioch (France) fell in the semi-finals and ended up in fifth place. The world champion was Czech Eva Adamczykova, who succeeded in Park City in 2019 under her maiden name Samkova. Silver went to Josie Puff of Australia. Olympic champion Lindsey Jacoblis of the United States won the bronze medal.