Just in case it all goes wrong and his dreams go up in smoke, Russian-born Iouri Podladtchikov does have a back-up plan: to open a fruit stand. “Slicing up watermelons all day so that people can grab a fresh snack as they go by – I think that would be great.”
The 25-year-old snowboarder would like to be many things, but he still has a long way to go. And for the time being he needs no back-up plans. His world is the halfpipe: 180 metres long, 20 metres wide and seven metres high; a bisected tube of compact snow and ice; and a masterpiece of engineering. What Podladtchikov does best is five to six jumps each run – one every four to five seconds – at a height of three to six metres above the rim of the pipe. He incorporates a flawless sequence of tricks full of flips and twists, turning his run into a work of art.
Podladtchikov is a two-time world champion and has made it on to the winners’ podium countless times at major competitions, but never at the Olympic Games. He was eliminated in the qualifiers in Turin in 2006 and came fourth in Vancouver in 2010 – a blot on his copybook.
He wants to change this now – and in his parents’ homeland. On 11 February from 9:30 to 10:35 p.m. local time (6:30 to 7:35 p.m. CET) the halfpipe final will take place at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and if Podladtchikov gets his way he will come out on top. This will mean outperforming Shaun White – the big favourite from the US. Podladtchikov has yet to beat the American, and many believe that only a serious accident could prevent White from winning his third Olympic gold medal in a row. A serious accident, or Podladtchikov.
The NZZ accompanied the Swiss contender for six months. During this time, a story emerged of an athlete who sometimes seems like a child and sometimes like a genius; a snowboarder who is actually an artist. The man who wants to reach the Olympic finals on 11 February has not reached this point solely through his time in the snow; he has also reached it through training on skateboards and trampolines, through partying with friends, through discussions with the public and clashes with White, and through his photography. This is the story of Iouri Podladtchikov, who was named after his geophysicist father and after Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.