Jamie Anderson reclaims her throne at Winter X Games Aspen 2012
The latest edition of Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, treated the fans of winter action sports to a memorable afternoon on Friday, January 27, as America’s Jamie Anderson reminded everyone during the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final why she is regarded as the greatest female snowboarder in the world.
A quick glance at the scoreboard revealed that Anderson had finally managed to reclaim the throne after four years, while last year’s Winter X gold medallist Enni Rukajärvi of Finland was forced to settle for silver this year. Norway’s Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas had also landed herself in the top-three to round out the podium and take home the bronze.
Making her sixth Winter X appearance, the 21-year-old Anderson was looking to not only looking to ensure that her streak of medalling at every edition of the winter action sports mega-event was not broken, but also take back her place on the top of the podium. Just a year after she had made her debut in the ESPN-hosted Winter X Games to collect a bronze, the South Lake Tahoe-native had managed to claim the coveted gold in 2006. Anderson successfully defended her throne in 2007. However, she was forced to settle for second place in 2009 and 2010 and moved even further down the podium in 2011.
While maintain her place on the podium was an achievement in itself, Anderson wanted nothing less than the top spot on it. With the intended motivation of reclaiming her throne, the iconic snowboarder trained hard throughout the previous year to groom her skills even further and add a few aces up her sleeve.
Well prepared to take on the best snowboarders from around the world, Anderson made her way to Aspen for the latest edition of Winter X Games. Just a night before the final of Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle was due to take place, a fresh coat of snow was deposited on Buttermilk. The effect of this fresh snow became apparent during the finals on Friday as the ladies struggled to maintain sufficient speed over the four close-together jumps in the slopestyle course.
Of the entire field of Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, only three ladies managed to land at least one of their three runs completely.
The tough jumps, which were made even tougher due to the snow conditions, were unable to keep the legendary Anderson at bay. Not bothering to think about the many things that could have gone wrong while attempting her exquisite tricks off the jumps despite unfavourable conditions, the American snowboarders unleashed not one but two stupendous runs.
“Usually when I get to an event, I try to think of the best possible run I could maybe do,” Anderson said. “I was working on a run all week and I didn't really have a safety run. I just wanted to put it down.”
Anderson asserted her dominance in the final from the start, landing a sensational first run to put a 94.00 on the scoreboard. However, she was far from done yet and went on to put on an even more phenomenal performance in her third run, which featured a Cab 720 tail-grab, switch back-side 540, back-side 540 and switch back-side 180 on the four jumps. The brilliant run compelled the judges to give her a record score of 95.33 for her effort to seal the fate of the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle in her favour and claiming her third Winter X Games women’s Snowboard Slopestyle gold.
The Kuusamo-based Rukajärvi had surprised the snowboarding world by walking away with top honours while making her debut at Winter X Games last year. Returning to the competition this year with a huge amount of hype surrounding her, the 21-year-old Finnish stomped her first run to post an 82.66 on the score-board. Unable to complete her second and third run, she was eventually forced to settle for a silver medal this year.
The 30-year-old Buaas was also ecstatic over finally landing a place on the podium after finishing in fourth place thrice in the previous editions of Winter X Games. She too was able to land only one of her three runs completely, scoring a 78.33 off it to take home the bronze.
Anderson’s determination and consistency has already served to earn her a legendary status. There is hardly anyone as intimidating as her in women’s snowboard and judging by her performance over the last few years, one is forced to believe that her domination is to continue for years to come.
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