Terje Håkonsen om OL og triples
Manden bag Oakley Arctic Challenge hedder Terje Håkonsen. Yderligere præsentation burde ikke være nødvendig – han er en legende i snowboardverdenen. Han gav sig tid under dagens konkurrence til at give sit syn på blandt andet snowboarding slopestyle som måske kommende olympisk disciplin og triple flips. Ganske interessant snak fra det efterhånden 36-årige Oakley-ikon.
Are we going to see snowboarding slopestyle in the 2014 Olympics?
Yeah for sure. The IOC is about commercial things. After the success with the snowboarding in the past Olympics – that’s like one commercial thing they won’t miss. I would be really shocked if they let this chance pass. IOC’s wet dream is to have Shaun White go for double gold.
That is also part of why you brought IOC board members here to TAC?
Yes, we can’t talk to them behind closed doors where nobody can hear what we are saying. We always play with open cards, but IOC is known to not have open cards. There is a lot of sports politics and politics in general – like any other industry I would assume.
Who is your favorite rider to win this year’s Oakley Arctic Challenge?
Some of the good guys are resting over injuries – like Peetu. I always love watching Peetu cause he is so powerful and clean. The field we have here today – Mark McMorris, Sage Kotsenburg and Ulrik Badertscher are all guys that can do sick stuff. I think it’s gonna be pretty tight. Now that the conditions are getting better and it is clearing up. People have been riding really well – so I hate to be the judge. It is not an easy thing.
Are you satisfied with the course? Is it perfect?
No no, slopestyle courses have a long way to go. We shape things out of snow – it costs money and it is difficult sometimes. But with the stuff we sometimes build that is not for competitions we can be so much more creative. We also want the riders to be comfortable. Last year I was embarrassed with the course cause it was so icy – nothing we could do anything about, though. But some of the jumps are kinda hard, so if the rider doesn’t feels really comfortable he can’t deliver. You don’t wanna Evel Knievel on people, you know – so a lot of people get hurt. You want people to have fun with it and still be technical and knarly at the same time. So find that balance.
But we got some fresh snow here – that’s lucky. So the landings are softer than the rest of the slopestyles this year.
What is your view on triples in snowboarding competitions?
Triples – yeah it is a part of the progression. I didn’t think we were going to do doubles, if you asked me 10 years ago. People have been doing triple backflips since the 90s, but it’s a little different now because the jumps are bigger. You can always make a jump that goes straight up and down and throw maybe four flips, but you can’t really compare it – you have to ride, it’s like riding too. A good example is the freestyle ski jumping – they are really acrobatic people, but the people who do this from countries like China, they can’t really ski cause they only go straight. It doesn’t have anything to do with skiing.
So Torstein doing like a triple back at the X-Games on a jump that was really hard to do it on – that is riding you know – that’s progression.
Is it clear how you will judge a triple versus a double?
You gotta look at style too. When you huck it you just kind of throw yourself and the style is forgotten. When you can combine the technical with the style – that scores well.
What about yourself – are you ever going to do a triple?
Haha. I should probably do a double first. I am probably not going to try a triple unless there is a lot of powder, but I am probably gonna try a double soon.
Tekst og billede: Troels Feodor Nielsen