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Ramona Hofmeister
Photo: GEPA pictures / Patrick Steiner / IMAGO
Ramona Hofmeister could hardly believe what she had accomplished.
“I haven’t fully realized it yet,” said Germany’s top snowboarder after her historic triple.
After the overall World Cup and the parallel giant slalom World Cup, the 27-year-old also won the discipline ranking in the parallel slalom.
She made it into the quarter-finals at the season finale in Winterberg in Sauerland this weekend.
It feels “awesome,” said Hofmeister.
"I'm incredibly proud of myself and the entire team." It was a "great season."
The award ceremony pushed the WSV Bischofswiesen athlete to her emotional limits.
“I actually fought back tears a lot during the anthem,” she said.
Since she really wanted to achieve the triple, she was quite nervous before the race, reported the Upper Bavarian.
Third triple in alpine snowboard history
Hofmeister is the first German to win all three crystal balls in an alpine snowboarding season.
Before her, only the Swiss Patrizia Kummer had achieved this feat in 2014 and the Slovenian Zan Kosir in 2015.
Hofmeister's decisive entry into the quarter-finals was dramatic.
She beat the Italian Elisa Caffont with just a hundredth of a second lead.
At the finish line, she clapped her hands over her head in relief.
Given her overall triumph, Hofmeister was able to cope with the fact that she fell against eventual winner Ester Ledecka from the Czech Republic in the top eight round and was eliminated.
The exceptional athlete's trophy collection is constantly growing: she has already won the overall World Cup four times, as well as Olympic bronze in 2018 and two World Cup medals.
In the parallel slalom, Hofmeister finished best for the first time in a season.
For the men, the discipline ranking went to the South Korean day winner Sang-ho Lee.
ara/dpa