Ståle Sandbech
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
3 June 1993 Rykkinn, Norway | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) (5'10") | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Norway | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Snowboarding | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | BSK Snowboard | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ståle Sandbech (born 3 June 1993) is a Norwegian snowboarder. He participated at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, and won a silver medal in Men's slopestyle in 2014. Sandbech also won three bronze medals in Winter X Games in 2013 and 2014.
Career
Sandbech comes from Rykkinn in Bærum and competes for the club BSK Snowboard.[1] He started snowboarding at the age of eight and, in 2007, was invited to the rookie-competition of The Arctic Challenge. The organizer of TAC Terje Håkonsen said Sandbech was the best 13-year-old snowboarder in Norway at the time.[2]
Sandbech represented Norway at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, becoming the youngest Norwegian to go to the Olympics since Sonja Henie represented Norway at the 1928 Winter Olympics 82 years earlier.[3] Sandbech won the World Snowboarding Tour in freestyle in 2011–12.[1]
Sandbech won a bronze medal in Big Air at the 2013 Winter X Games, where his countryman Torstein Horgmo won gold.[4] Four Norwegians qualified for the Big Air final in the 2014 games, with Sandbech placing the highest and winning the bronze medal.[5] The next day, he won another bronze medal in slopestyle.[6]
At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sandbech participated in slopestyle, the first time it was included in an Olympic program. In his first run he tried a triple cork, but failed to land it. He had a successful second run, and with 91.75 points he placed second behind Sage Kotsenburg. It was Norway's first medal in the 2014 Olympics.[7] Former snowboarder and Norwegian TV 2 commentator, Andreas Wiig, and the Swedish slopestyle competitor, Sven Thorgren, both stated that Sandbech should have won the gold as he performed better than Kotsenburg in their opinions.[8]
References
- 1 2 "Ståle Sandbech" (in Norwegian). Snowboardforbundet. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Pettersen, Charlott Lokland (2 March 2007). "Norges beste 13-åring". kjendis.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Bøthun, Gunnar (8 January 2010). "Han kan bli Norges yngste OL-deltaker på 82 år". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Wahlstrøm, Roy (26 January 2013). "– Sykt fett. Beste i verden!". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Stendal, Christian Skare (25 January 2014). "Ståle Sandbech holdt igjen, men tok bronse i X Games". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Haarstad, Thomas (25 January 2014). "Ståle Sandbech sikret Norge ny medalje i X Games". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Kvam, Synee (8 February 2014). "'Ståle Sandbech tok Norges første medalje". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ↑ Hove, Lasse Bjarte; Flaglien, Elin (8 February 2014). "TV 2s ekspert: – Ståle Sandbech burde fått gullet". TV2 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 10 February 2014.