NEWS BY EURO NEWSROOM

Miikka Jouhkimainen (FIN) triumphs at Red Bull Crashed Ice 09.02.2008

A total of 64 ice hockey aces from 12 nations took part in the main event at the first Red Bull Crashed Ice competition in Bolgen/Davos, Switzerland, racing down a 400-metre long ice track. A crowd of 10.000 watched the spectacle under the floodlights, cheering Miikka Jouhkimainen (FIN) to victory in the final.

There were icy conditions in Europe's highest city on Saturday. At the Ice Cross Downhill event the athletes - wearing protective ice hockey equipment - raced in groups of four with their elbows flying down the course filled with challenging steps and difficult corners at the foot of the Jakobshorn run. Miikka Jouhkimainen (FIN) took first place, finishing in front of Sébastien Morissette (CAN) and Lukas Kolc (CZE) in third.

After being catapulted forward at the starting line, the skating aces were immediately confronted with a steep curve, a 46-degree drop. After a 90-degree corner they had to cross a bridge to set themselves up for a good entry into a Swiss chalet. After that came a series of moguls and challenging obstacles to overcome on the final slope, an incredibly difficult stretch that separated the winners from the pretenders, as Swiss ski legend Bruno Kernen confirmed: "Some of the toughest guys in the world were in this race. You just can't imagine how much courage and skill is needed for this," he said. Kernen, who retired from the international ski circuit in 2007, swapped his skies for the ice hockey skates and took 59th place.

The Red Bull Crashed Ice has conquered some of the most icy downhill slopes in the world, providing for an incredible level of action and excitement. From the world premiere in Stockholm in 2000 to Moscow, Prague and Quebec and other locations since then, the event combining ice hockey and boarder-X is a magnificent event for spectators. More than 90,000 people watched the 2007 Ice Cross downhill race in Helsinki.

Results: 1. Miikka Jouhkimainen (FIN), 2. Sébastien Morissette (CAN), 3. Lukas Kolc (CZE), 4. Louis-Phillipe Dumoulin (CAN), 5. Matias Schantz (FIN), 6. Reto Schmid (CH), 7. Adrian Oggier (CH), 8. Patrick Murer CH), 9. Michael Krainer-Bidovec (AUT), 10. Roman Müller (CH)