Kari Opsal Maeland - an interview with the World Rookie Champion 2008 - Page 1
May 02, 2008 @ 8:15 AM
Interview: Melanie Schönthier
All pictures: Eleonora Raggi
Kari Opsal Maeland might look like a young, innocent lady but she is a tough rider who don´t mind taking risks. When we met her at the World Rookie Fest 2008 in Ischgl two weeks ago, we were horrified by a massive bruise on the cheek of the 17 years old Norwegian. “I just slammed in the training. Nothing too bad!”, Kari laughed. This is probably what makes the difference between a rookie and a World Rookie Champion…
Onboard: How does it feel to be the best female rookie in the world?
Kari Opsal Maeland: It feels pretty good, I must admit! I didn’t expect it when I went to Ischgl, so going home with the price felt both great and surprising.
OB: Did you already feel in the morning that this is going to be your day?
Kari: No, I didn’t know I was going to pull it off. Everything can happen during a contest, so the only thing you can do is try to do the best you can. I’m usually a bit nervous before contests, but sometimes that’s a good thing. I ate an apple and had my Protest team manager Jody boost me up! After the contest I didn’t know what to expect, I’m always careful with thinking too much before a price giving.
OB: But we saw that you had two pretty good runs…
Kari: They made one rail run and one kicker run count. So I did my rail run first and saved it with a 50-50 to boardslide on the battleship and a fs lip on the kink box. In my kicker run I think it was the backflip the judges fell for.
OB: What is so special about the World Rookie Fest?
Kari: I like the thought behind the Rookie Fest. It gives young riders the opportunity to reach their goals. Instead of money prices they give away prices like tickets to other competitions or photo shoots. (Kari won a photo shoot with an Italian snowboard magazine, the ed.)
Kari obviously likes rails.
