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 *Czech (surnam ...

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 Paralympic ...

. She started snowboarding in 2002 at her local mountains in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, 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)) 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 The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, 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 The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

. 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 skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, Inline skating, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially t ...

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 LGBTQ 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), ...

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 ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)) * 3rd – Slopestyle – 6Star Burton European Open ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)) * 2nd – Big Air – 3Star Billabong Bro Down ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)) * 4th – Slopestyle – 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam Europe ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)) * 5th – Slopestyle – 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam US ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour))

Highlights of Swatch TTR 2008/2009 Season

* 1st – Slopestyle – 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)) * 6th – Halfpipe – 6Star Burton European Open ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)) * 6th – Slopestyle – 6Star Burton European Open ( Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour))

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 Sportspeople from Uherské Hradiště Czech female snowboarders Olympic snowboarders for 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 competitors Lesbian sportswomen Czech lesbians Czech LGBTQ sportspeople LGBTQ snowboarders 21st-century Czech LGBTQ people