Jamie Anderson continues her domination of snowboard slopestyle at Winter X Games Tignes 2012
America’s professional snowboarder Jamie Anderson has done a lot for the progression of women’s snowboarding in the recent years, consistently pushing the boundaries in snowboarding slopestyle contests.
The last few years have been nothing short of dreamlike for the young South Lake Tahoe-based rider and yet she continues to push herself even harder to maintain her reputation of being the queen of slopestyle.
Travelling to Frances to defend her throne at Winter X Games Tignes 2012, Anderson had all the reason in the world to be dripping with confidence. She was going through yet another great season, with a gold medal at Winter X Games earlier this year in Aspen
and later took an overall win in the Burton Global Open series. She also emerged as the Ticket to Ride (TTR) World Tour Slopestyle champion for yet another year, a clear indication of her continuing domination of the sport.
However, the ESPN-hosted mega-event of action sports in France was never expected to be a walk in the park for Anderson despite her excellent run of form. Facing the likes of Canada’s Spencer O’Brien and Finland’s Enni Rukajärvi along with a handful of other
world-class riders from around the globe in front of thousands of fans, the American rider was well aware of the fact that she would need to come up with something special to steal the show.
If there is one thing that we have come to know about Anderson over the years, it is her ability to cope exceptionally well with pressure situations.
As Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final got underway on Friday, March 16, the 21-year-old Anderson reminded everyone once again why she enjoys the reputation of being close to invincible when it comes to slopestyle contests.
In her very first run of the final, the American rider put together a string of tricks on the jumps and rail section to post a huge score of 96.00 on the scoreboard, taking an early lead and immediately putting her rivals under immense pressure.
However, it turned out that Anderson was not quite satisfied with her Run 1 effort and went on to step up even further in Run 2. This time, she went for a Cab 270 off, half Cab in backside tail-slide to fakie off the top rails into a Cab 720, switch backside
540, front-side 720. She continued her run with a tail-press on the bottom rainbow rail to 270 out. The phenomenal run left the crowd and judges stunned, compelling the judges to give her a 98.00 for the effort.
The score proved to be a wall too high to climb for the other finalists, putting Anderson in the lead until the end to earn her yet another gold medal.
“It means so much,” said Anderson of her win. “I'm so happy to be here with all the girls. I wanted to try to do a 900. I haven't gotten it yet. A little bit more work -- maybe next contest.”
The Canadian sensation O’Brien was unable to challenge her American rival’s best score during any of her runs, but she did manage to secure silver medal after landed a remarkable 92.66-point Run 1 that featured a switch front-side 180 gap to 5-0 to backside
180 off, front-side board-slide, backside 540 to super smooth switch backside 540, front-side 720 while executing a solid grab, a full 40-foot nose slide to 180 out on the rainbow rail.
Rukajärvi rounded out the podium to take home the bronze medal after scoring an 88.00 off her first run, which included a back 540, Cab 540 and a front-side 720.
The other finalists failed to meet the standard set by Anderson during women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final on Friday as well. Setting the bar extremely high, the American rider ensured that her domination of Winter X Games continued for yet another year.
It would be interesting to see if and when anyone steps up to challenge Anderson’s domination of slopestyle. Even though the level of riding is progressively increasing every year, the Californian rider manages to stay well ahead of the pack with her huge
array of skills and unmatchable style.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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