Red Bull.com

Iouri – or iPod – was born in Moscow, but grew up in Davos, Switzerland, and it was there, in 2007, that he first revealed his talent by taking two second place halfpipe finishes – the first at the O’Neill Evolution, the second at the Burton European Open. It was the following season, however, when Podladtchikov really made his mark, winning the overall halfpipe category in the 2007/8 Snowboard World Cup. Podladtchikov made six podiums in his first 16 World Cup starts – a record which earned him a formidable reputation on the circuit. In 2006, he was chosen to compete at the Winter Olympics in Turin – for Russia, finishing 37th. He then switched allegiance to compete for Switzerland the following season. Podladtchikov finished fourth in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. At the Winter X Games Europe of the same year, Podladtchikov successfully landed a Double McTwist 1260 – becoming only the second athlete ever to do so after Shaun White – which also helped land him the highest score in Winter X Games history. He’s also pretty handy with a skateboard, winning two major European competitions in 2007.