After a stable effort in the first jump, Sven Thorgren drove an easier trick in the second to secure a final place. But other riders performed at a higher level than expected and Thorgren was tipped off from a final place before the third and final jump.
- It got to a higher level than I expected so in the last jump I knew I had to put in a trick that I usually only run in finals. It was a little nervous having to put it in a qualifier, says Sven Thorgren to SVT Sport.
In the last jump, he hit a triple volt with four rotations - and set it perfectly. This made it a victory for the Swede in the World Cup qualification. In total he got 180.50 points while the second Chris Corning, USA, landed at 169.50.
"Slept all day and had no food in the body"- Luckily things went well, it's been really difficult with landings today. There is so dry air here so the organizer has sprayed lots of water on the landing so this hard. But I kept it together and managed to handle it well.
Thorgren has also been stomach-churning in the days - first this morning he gave the go-ahead to compete.
- It was really at the last second. I slept all day and had no food in my body. Just before the competition I managed to get some muffins and cakes so I felt normal again when I started. But I missed a lot of workouts and have been running out of energy, he says.
Now the Swede is allowed to recharge for the World Cup final this weekend.
- It feels great. I'm really only going to step up my first trick half a lap, then I have a great chance of winning.
Niklas Mattsson missed to advance to the big air final which SVT broadcasts on Saturday 12.30.