Sarka Pancochova claimed her maiden FIS World Cup victory in the halfpipe at Kreischberg, Austria, on Thursday, and with it booked her place in next month's Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The 19-year-old Czech pulled out all the stops to reach her first World Cup final with a faultless run, which included a frontside air to backside 540, frontside 540, straight air and a frontside 720.
'I didn't expect to win at all. It feels so good!' -Sarka Pancochova
She duly dominated the main event, picking up 42.1 points to finish ahead of Chinese duo Zhifeng Sun (40.6) and Xu Chen (40.5).
Pancochova, who had been surprised by the result, said: "I knew that I can do good tricks but I didn't expect to win at all. It feels so good, I cannot believe it... I would love to give my best in Vancouver.”
The Czech teenager has now climbed to second place in the overall FIS halfpipe standings with 1,100 points. She is just 140 points behind leader Xuetong Cai of China.
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