Opponents but Friends

GRANADA – The FISU Universiades aren’t just about competing for your country or university, they are also about making friends around the world.

An hour before their freestyle skiing competition, Croatia’s Dorijan Mavrinac and Czech Republic’s Daniel Honzig, ate lunch together.

“I think it’s a lot of fun to meet new people and be with people from other countries,” said 21-year-old, Mavrinac.

And Mavrinac is happy to soak it all in here at his first world competition. He only just began competing in freestyle skiing two years ago.

“I was a football player and a basketball player,” he said. “But I love freestyle [skiing] because it’s different. You can show yourself and you can show your own style.”

And when Mavrinac says freestyle skiing is different, he really means it.

“I am the first Croatian to freestyle ski [in a Winter Universiade],” he said. “So I am very proud.”

Mavrinac’s pride could be seen when he was the flag bearer for his country during the opening ceremonies on 4 February.

“It was my first time waving the Croatian flag,” he said. “It was very special to me.”

But his Czech friend, Honzig, remembered a different highlight of the opening ceremonies.

“The flamenco dancing!”, he said with a smile.

But Honzig’s mind quickly returned to his upcoming race.

“It’s a very beautiful sport,” said Honzig, who came 11th at the European Cup. “I like the tricks and the first and second jumps.”

In the end, Honzig and Mavrinac resulted in 10th and 23rd place at the 2015 Winter Universiade.

First and second place went to Kazakhstan’s Pavel Kolmakov and Dmitriy Reiherd, while third place went to Russia’s Sergei Shimbuev.

Kelcey Wright, U-Media Reporter