At the Beijing 2022 Games, the Catalan rider culminated her career with a historic silver, continuing the legacy of Blanca Fernández Ochoa
At 34 years old, he has a luxurious track record in the spectacular halfpipe discipline, one of the most difficult and technical disciplines in snowboarding.
With a long and successful sports career behind him, Queralt Castellet won Olympic silver in the halfpipe modality at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. After the closing of the Olympic event, the CIO included the Catalan rider in the list of “inspiring” athletes. and she highlighted that she “was one of the women who harnessed the power of confidence to achieve monumental feats.” castle34 years old, made history, taking over from Blanca Fernández Ochoa, died in 2019, protagonist of the previous medal for Spain at the 1992 Albertville Games.
Five Olympic Games
The halfpipe is one of the most complex, technical and difficult disciplines of freestyle snowboarding, but at the same time, one of the most spectacular. Queralt participated in five Winter Games until culminating his career with silver in Beijing 2022. Before, she finished seventh in Pyeongchang 2018, eleventh in Sochi 2014, twelfth in Vancouver 2010 and twenty-sixth in her Olympic premiere, in Turin 2006.
An exceptional track record that completes his two medals at the Snowboard World Championships (silver in 2015 and bronze in 2021) and other thingsis medals at the X Games of Winter, one gold and two silver. In the Halfpipe World Cup, the athlete from Sabadell has six victorieswith the best overall classification being the second place achieved in the 2011-2012 season.
Obstacle race
The Olympic experience in China did not start well. Three days before traveling, her physiotherapist informed her that she could not accompany her due to a health problem and when she arrived in Beijing she found out that her coach had tested positive for Covid and she would not be in the competition either. “I found myself alone with my skiman (the assistant who waxes the boards) but I thought: Queralt, you have to enjoy and do what you can,” she remembers.
When push came to shove, he gave a splendid performance, full of confidence. The final was played in three rounds. In the first she did not take risks, in the second she went with everything and after the third she only gave in to the undisputed favorite, Chloe Kim.
The podium in Beijing justified a life dedicated body and soul to snowboarding. Queralt’s smile in her ‘selfie’ with her teammates made it clear to what extent an Olympic medal so sought after and worked so hard for was important.. A silver to close the circle.
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