Kelly Clark clinches Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final at Winter X Games Tignes 2012
America’s Kelly Clark completely stole the show in Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final at Winter X Games Tignes 2012 that went down on Wednesday, March 14, in France to add another gold medal to her resume.
It turned out to be an all-American sweep of the podium with Elena Hight finishing as first runner-up while Kaitlyn Farrington rounded out the third position.
Even though the 16-win streak by Clark came to an end during the 2012 Burton US Open at Stratton Mountain in Vermont last week, the 28-year-old Californian rider did not let the disappointment get to her head and gave her best during her latest skirmish in Tignes.
Competing for the coveted gold medal at the European version of Winter X Games, Clark found herself against the best female riders from around the world in the SuperPipe Final under the lights. The line-up included Hight who had put an end to Clark’s winning streak last week. The fans were definitely anxious to see if the 22-year-old South Lake Tahoe-based rider would be able to get the better of arguably the best female snowboarder in the world.
There were very few people who doubted Clark as the favourite for the event, considering she had won 16 of the 17 events that she had competed in during the last two years,. Living up to the expectations, the Mammoth Lakes-based rider landed a near-perfect second run, which featured a perfect 1080, to score a 95.00. The score help up throughout the second and third run to earn her the gold.
“I'm really happy with my riding tonight,” Clark said. “I fell first run and came back under pressure. That's the most technical run I've done in a contest. I've never done my 10 third hit either. All the girls rode so great. I'm looking forward to next season.”
Hight was forced to settle for second place despite putting on a pretty spectacular performance in her second run to post an 85.00 on the score-board. Her second run featured a back-to-back 720s, back-to-back 900s and an alley-oop rodeo.
Farrington, who topped the podium at Winter X Games Europe in 2010, found herself securing the third place on the podium with an 81.33 off her Run 3.
Even though the Finals’ line-up comprised of heavily-talented female riders, Clark once again proved to be in a league of her own, asserting her domination in the sport once again with yet another successful skirmish and living up to her repute of being the queen of pipe.
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