Switzerland snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov has revealed that his gold medal success in the half-pipe in the 2014 Winter Olympics was "meant to be".
The 25-year-old won the event to secure his country's second gold medal of the Games as he recorded a rating of 94.75, beating Japan's Ayumu Hirano and Taku Hiraoka who earned silver and bronze medals respectively.
He told reporters: "Everything came together exactly the way I planned it five minutes before and it's weird because it never usually works out.
"In this one it really felt like there was no fighting [to pull off tricks] at all, it felt like it was all meant to be. And I was in the position where I was throwing down my hardest ticks with ease. There are no words for that."
The USA's Shaun White finished fourth as he looked for his third gold medal in as many Games in the event.
Written by
Simon Sinclair
Simon Sinclair
