Šárka Pančochová (, born 1 November 1990) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

. She started snowboarding in 2002 at her local mountains in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

, Czech Republic.

Career

Šárka got her first sponsor in the 2005/06 season. In 2007/2008 at the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, Pančochová won the 3Star Quiksilver Snowjam and the Protest and O2 World Rookie fests. In the same season, she won the title of FIS Junior World Champion in Valmalenco, Italy. In 2008/09, she won at the 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam in Austria and ended the season as World No. 8 on the TTR World Rankings. In 2009/10, Pančochová followed the (

Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour) Ticket to Ride may refer to: Games * ''Ticket to Ride'' (board game), a rail-themed Eurogame by Alan R. Moon ** ''Ticket to Ride'' (video game), its digital adaptation ** '' Ticket to Ride: The Card Game'', a simplified spin-off Music * ''Tick ...

) and finished the season as World No. 3. Šárka had her first six-star podium moment at the Burton European Open, where she placed third in slopestyle. At the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, she represented the Czech Republic and placed 14th in the halfpipe. Pančochová won a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2011 FIS Snowboarding World Championships. In 2014, she qualified to the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. She competed in the Slopestyle competition and made the final. On her second run, she had one of the worst crashes of the competitio
cracking her helmet
but wasn't injured. Her first-run score of 86.25 was enough for a fifth-place finish. She was taken to hospital for observation of possible concussion symptoms but was able to compete in

Halfpipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ra ...

several days later. She advanced to the semifinal round, and finished 10th in her semi.

Personal life

Pančochová came out as gay in an interview with

Outsports ''Outsports'' is a sports news website concerned with LGBT issues and personalities in amateur and professional sports. The company was founded in 1999 by Cyd Zeigler, Jr. and Jim Buzinski. ''The Outsports Revolution'' (Alyson Publications), by ...

in 2017. She said she was "stoked" to discuss it publicly but also said it was "really not a big deal" anymore.

Recent competition history

Highlights of Swatch TTR 2009/2010 Season

* 7th – Slopestyle – 5Star Burton New Zealand Open (

) * 3rd – Slopestyle – 6Star Burton European Open (

) * 2nd – Big Air – 3Star Billabong Bro Down (

) * 4th – Slopestyle – 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam Europe (

) * 5th – Slopestyle – 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam US (

)

Highlights of Swatch TTR 2008/2009 Season

* 1st – Slopestyle – 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam (

) * 6th – Halfpipe – 6Star Burton European Open (

) * 6th – Slopestyle – 6Star Burton European Open (

)

Career Highlights

* 2010 FIS World Cup / Kreischberg – Halfpipe – 1st Place * 2010 Winter Dew Tour – Slopestyle – 2nd Place * 2008 FIS Junior World Snowboard Championships / Italy – 1st Place

References

External links

Official Šárka Fanpage
*

Official Flow Snowboarding Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancochova, Sarka 1990 births Living people People from Uherské Hradiště Czech female snowboarders Olympic snowboarders of the Czech Republic Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics X Games athletes Lesbian sportswomen Czech LGBT sportspeople LGBT snowboarders Sportspeople from the Zlín Region