Australian snowboarder Alex Pullin has hailed the Sochi course layout as being "perfect".
The 26-year-old, who is favourite to land his country's first gold medal of this year's Winter Games, believes that the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park venue has been wrongly criticised by the his fellow competitors over the past week.
"It's just what you get dealt on the day," Pulling is quoted as saying by The Age. "The course layout is perfect: it's a great, technical, lengthy course. I don't try to get into that mindset of things should change. I get into a mindset that this is what we get given and make it work for me.
"It's a good course for the Olympics. I'm excited to race it. Everyone's going to have a good chance at it. What will be most important is getting to the first turn first. That's what I am aiming for. If I can get into turn one and lead, I shouldn't have too many troubles.
"Get behind, there are definitely passing opportunities. It's not like we don't see these conditions. It's just part of the game. The course is one element, conditions are the other you have to be ready for each day. It's all manageable. It's a little bit challenging. I would love to go a little quicker and feel better."
Team USA snowboarder Shaun White previously called on organisers to improve the half-pipe course.
Daniel Lewis
