America’s snowmobile rider Levi LaVallee claimed the Snowmobile Freestyle gold, though just barely, at X Games Aspen 2013, which kicked off at Aspen, Colorado, on Thursday, January 24.
In what turned out to be an all-American podium sweep, Joe Parson secured second place to take home the silver medal, while Justin Hoyer walked away with the bronze medal for his efforts.
The opening night of the biggest winter action sports of the year turned out to be full of mesmerising performances, surprises and the brutal crashes.
The crash came quite early in the contest, with last year’s gold medallist Caleb Moore failing to land the indy air back-flip cleanly. Under-rotating his trick, Moore ended up hitting the tips of the sled ski straight into the snow, consequently getting
slammed face-first into the snow while his snowmobile came crashing down on him.
Fortunately, the 25-year-old Texan laid motionless for only a few seconds before regaining consciousness and waving to the crowd to confirm that he is alright, much to relief of everyone.
Putting the drama behind, the riders shifted their focus back to getting their hands on the coveted X Games medals on offer.
LaVallee had earned an 88.33 off his first run, which put him in third place with Sweden’s Daniel Bodin.
However, the American rider stepped-up his performance in the second run, launching a very solid combination, which included a massive kiss-of-death flip.
Earning an 89.00 for his 75-second Run 2, LaVallee got past Parsons to claim the throne, adding yet another gold medal to his collection.
"I feel terrible about the accidents that happened," said LaVallee, who won the gold medal in 2008. "But I'm happy I put down a solid run and came out on top to win gold again. It's like, 'Pinch me! Is this for real?' "
Parsons scored an 88.66 off his second run, which featured a cardova flip and a gator wrestler, to clinch silver medal.
Hoyer finished in third place after finishing with a best-run score of 85.66.
Bodin, one of the favourites, put on a decent first run, but was unable to return for his second run due to mechanical difficulties, resulting from a huge crash off the 100-foot jump in his first run.
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