Adam Horst scored possibly the biggest upset in the history of ice cross downhill on Saturday night as the Canadian secured an incredible win during the third race of the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship in Are, Sweden.
The 420-metre-long track put the skids under the championship charge of Kyle Croxall as the overall leader and winner of the first two races hit the wall at the quarter-final stage during a thrilling two hours of racing that was beamed live on redbull.tv.
Closest rival Arttu Pihlainen and Kyle’s brother, Scott, who was also chasing a first Red Bull Crashed Ice win, were the favourites in the four-man final but it was Horst, a 25-year-old firefighter, who upset all the odds to secure his first ever win in front of spectators who crowded Are's famous square.
"It’s something that you want from the very first time you enter a race," said Horst. "To win… I really don’t know what to say! My first race was in Quebec in 2008... it’s something that I have hoped for for many years!"
Kyle Croxall has seen his lead in the overall standings cut to 240 points from 2011 champion Arttu Pihlainen going into the final race of the season in Quebec City, Canada, with up to five racers, including Horst, in with a shout of taking the title which Croxall has been the favourite to claim. Fabian Mels is still in the running but another shock exit saw the German, a victim of the Wall Ride, fail to make it beyond the Round of 64.
It was a night to remember for Jim de Paoli; the Swiss athlete, who may have exited the competition in Friday's Elimination Round following a contentious incident with Swedish rookie Martin Lindqvist in which he got the benefit of a dubious disqualification, skated his way to Saturday's final, finishing fourth in his best result to date.
Team USA were also big winners, with Tigh Isaac registering the best ever finish by a US athlete in the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship. Tigh, a short-track speed skater, debuted in the first event of 2012 in Saint Paul and finished sixth in Are. Fellow American Cameron Naasz was 15th.
Norwegian Inge Stokvik scooped the MINI Rookie Award following a 25th-placed finish. The highest placed Swede was Mikael Andersson who made it all the way to the quarter finals before finishing 14th.
The next and final stop in the 2012 Ice Cross Downhill World Championship is Quebec City, Canada, on March 15-17. Be first with everything ice cross downhill – download the official Red Bull Crashed Ice App for iPhone and Android!
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