Elijah Teter lands on the podium in World Cup Finals halfpipe

Elijah Teter lands on the podium in World Cup Finals halfpipe{mosimage}USSA — U.S. snowboard rider Elijah Teter was third Friday with a score of 41.1 in the World Cup Finals at what will be the 2006 Olympic Winter Games halfpipe venue in Bardonecchia, Italy.

Finnish riders Risto Mattila and Toni-Markus Turunen were 1-2 with final scores of 42.9 and 41.6, respectively.

“It was fun, man,” said Teter. “I got to check out the Olympic site that is awesome and ride in the pipe and have a good time. … I just wanted to come ride my best and make finals. That was my goal. It was sick.”

Tyler Emond was 10th while Chris Nelson finished 14th, missing the final round that only includes the top 10 men from the first round.

Tricia Byrnes, the lone American woman entered in halfpipe at World Cup Finals, finished fifth in a competition won by Australia’s Torah-Jane Bright (41.6 points). Second place went to Sophie Rodriguez of France and Japan’s Soko Yamaoka was third.