Ståle Sandbech (born 3 June 1993) is a Norwegian

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Ma ...

er, who specialises in Big Air, and Slopestyle. He has participated at the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, and

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Bei ...

and won a silver medal in the Men's slopestyle in 2014. Sandbech has also competed at several Winter X Games winning 2 Silver medals in 2015, and 2017 and 3 bronze medals in 2013, and 2014, and a Gold medal at the 2017 World Championships.

Career

Sandbech comes from Rykkinn in Bærum and competes for the club BSK Snowboard. He started snowboarding at the age of eight and, in 2007, was invited to the rookie-competition of

The Arctic Challenge The Arctic Challenge is a snowboarding contest arranged for and by the riders themselves. It was started by Norwegian professional snowboarders Daniel Franck and Terje Håkonsen. The contest was established as an alternative to the former competiti ...

. The organizer of TAC Terje Håkonsen said Sandbech was the best 13-year-old snowboarder in Norway at the time. Sandbech represented Norway 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 Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, becoming the youngest Norwegian to go to the Olympics since

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champion ...

represented Norway at the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (french: IIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; german: II. Olympische Winterspiele; it, II Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, II Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. M ...

82 years earlier. Sandbech won the

World Snowboarding Tour In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the wor ...

in freestyle in 2011–12. Sandbech won a bronze medal in Big Air at the

2013 Winter X Games Winter X Games XVII (re-titled Winter X Games Aspen '13; styled as Winter X Games Seventeen in the official logo) were held from January 24 to January 27, 2013, in Aspen, Colorado. They were the 12th consecutive Winter X Games to be held in Aspen. ...

, where his countryman

Torstein Horgmo Torstein Horgmo (born 18 February 1987) is a Norwegian professional snowboarder. Horgmo has competed, and medalled in, a variety of slopestyle and big air snowboarding competitions. He rides regular stance. Personal Horgmo grew up in Trondhei ...

won gold. Four Norwegians qualified for the Big Air final in the 2014 games, with Sandbech placing the highest and winning the bronze medal. The next day, he won another bronze medal in slopestyle. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

, Sandbech participated in

slopestyle Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The disc ...

, the first time it was included in an Olympic program. In his first run he tried a triple cork, but failed to land it. He had a successful second run, and with 91.75 points he placed second behind Sage Kotsenburg. It was Norway's first medal in the 2014 Olympics. Former snowboarder and Norwegian TV 2 commentator,

Andreas Wiig Andreas Ygre Wiig (born 5 March 1981) is a Norwegian professional snowboarder. He rides regular. Andreas was born in Oslo and grew up in Asker. He made a name for himself when he won two gold medals at the 2007 and 2008 Winter X Games ...

, and the Swedish slopestyle competitor,

Sven Thorgren Sven Thorgren (born 4 October 1994) is a Swedish snowboarder who competes in slopestyle. He started snowboarding when he was seven years old. He practiced every day after school on a small mountain called Väsjöbacken. Thorgren qualified for ...

, both stated that Sandbech should have won the gold as he performed better than Kotsenburg in their opinions. Sandbech competed in the 2015 Winter X-Games in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Mo ...

where he placed 5th in Men's

BigAir BigAir is a telecommunications company in Australia that was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange ( ASX). The company was acquired by Superloop, with the last day of trading of Big Air shares being 9 December 2016. BigAir manages one of t ...

and earned a Silver Medal in

Slopestyle Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The disc ...

. The following year during the 2016 Winter X-Games, Sandbech placed 5th in BigAir once again and 7th in Slopestyle. During the 2017 Winter X-Games, he placed 5th in BigAir and just off the podium of Slopestyle in only 4th place with a score of 85.66. While Sandbech did compete during the 2019 Winter X-Games, he did not make it into any finals. During the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

, Sandbech competed in BigAir and slopestyle where he finished just outside the podium i
4th
Sandbech placed 2nd with a score of 80.43 at the 202
LAAX Open
earning himself a silver medal.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandbech, Staale 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Bærum Norwegian male snowboarders Olympic snowboarders of Norway Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic medalists in snowboarding X Games athletes 21st-century Norwegian people