The snowboard course for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi has problems but should be “excellent” for the Games, Russian snowboarder Ekaterina Khatomchenkova told RIA Novosti on Friday.
The course is hosting a round of the Europa Cup through Sunday, one of a number of major test events at Sochi Olympic sites this winter.
“There are currently small holes on the run, but they’re not hugely noticeable. Mostly, they’re at the top and not too deep,” she said.
“But in the future, everything will improve and everything will be excellent.”
Khatomchenkova said that Sochi had the right conditions to host the Olympics, and was close to being ready.
“There’s very good weather today, it’s even warm. And they’ve prepared the course well. If the staff brush up on their tasks a bit, everything will be top level.”
Khatomchenkova, who won her first Europa Cup competition in Slovakia last month, was Russia’s top rider in Friday’s parallel giant slalom, finishing sixth.
The competition was won by Switzerland’s Yvonne Schuetz, recording her first win in the Europa Cup, with second place going to Austrian boarder Tanja Brugger, who won silver in the parallel giant slalom at the 2011 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival.
