Iouri Podladtchikov – The iPod

It’s been said many times, but Iouri Podladchikov has many times been the bridesmaid to Shaun White, but the final in Sochi was definitely his special day. On the night we weren’t too sure if Ayumu Hirano was robbed or not, but after watching the replay we’re pretty sure it went to the right guy; he went as big and achieved the seemingly impossible feat of cleaning up ‘the tomahawk’ after fighting his way into the finals through the semis.

The YOLO flip, his baby (the iPod mini?) was the crown jewel in his run; the trick he invented but never put down in a full run, until now. Again the comparison to El Blanco has to be made, that was pretty much the run the world was promised by the favourite, so after the YOLO was put down by Shaun it was fitting that iPod claimed the combo back for his victory.

And next? Iouri has been dominating the halfpipe circuit in Europe for a while now and shows no signs of slowing down, expect to see more from him soon in a pipe near you.

What did it for the world: The YOLO flip

What did it for us: The claim…