At the end of November last year, Swiss player Ryan Regoz had a somewhat depressed life in Zhangjiakou.
At that time, the first stop of the 2021-2022 Freestyle Steeplechase Pursuit World Cup was held at Genting Ski Park. He finished first in qualifying, but failed to play well and finished 25th. You know, the gold medal battle for the freestyle ski obstacle course at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will also be staged at this venue, will this setback herald a bad season? Reguez was quick to give an answer. Since the end of December last year, he has reached the final round in five consecutive World Cup matches, winning two championships, a runner-up and a third place, and once finished fourth, especially in the two competitions near the Beijing Winter Olympics, he has won the first place in the preliminary round plus the final champion.
In excellent shape, he came to China and played in the Winter Olympics for the first time. On February 18, in the Men's Steeplechase Qualifying Tournament for Freestyle Skiing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Reguez once again finished first. He then finished first in his group in both the quarter-finals, but was challenged in the semi-finals, losing in a match against Sweden's Eric Moberger, but the second-place finish in the group did not affect his progress to the final. In the other semi-finals, Regutz's Swiss teammate Alex Fiva and ROC player and bronze medalist Sergei Rizik at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics squeezed out 35-year-old defending champion and Nicknamed "Wombat" Canadian star Brady Lehmann. "I'd love to keep getting a medal or winning again." Lehmann, who finished sixth, said: "Over the past two years, I have experienced various injuries and difficulties, many times I thought I had no chance to defend the gold medal, but in the end I came and was proud of myself. ”
In the final, Reguez faced a number of strong opponents. In addition to Mobel, Rizik won the first leg of the 2021-2022 Freestyle Ski Track World Cup, and Fiva was a two-time Winter Olympic veteran, but in the end, Reguez laughed to the end.
At the age of 18, Regutz gave up alpine skiing for not being able to enter the national team, but after a brief stint as a draftsman, he found that he actually loved the freestyle skiing track event most.
"You may be struck twice by lightning, but it's harder to be a Winter Olympic champion or even a medalist. This is not true. "Reguez couldn't believe his performance after winning the title." I'm not a draftsman for the time being, of course, it also depends on how I perform on the field, and I'll be back in my old line of work in the future. ”
Photo by Pan Zhiwang, reporter of the Winter Olympics
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Client The Winter Olympics | Reporters Li Yuanfei, Chen Jiakun, and Deng Fangjia
Edited by Han Ye
Process Editor Wu Yue