Roz Groenewoud continues to take care of Sarah Burke’s unfinished business in women’s freeskiing
Heading to France for the latest edition of Winter X Games Europe, Canada’s Roz Groenewoud was aiming for more than just winning a gold medal. She was looking to continue the job that her compatriot, teammate and friend Sarah Burke had started a few years
back.
Burke is widely accepted as the pioneer of women’s ski halfpipe, making invaluable contributions for the progression of the sport. There was still a lot that needed to be done for the sport, though the responsibility of carrying the sport forward went to
the other skiers as Burke lost her life to a skiing accident during a practice session in the Park City, Utah, in January.
The 22-year-old Groenewoud was one of the many people who felt the impact of Burke’s death strongly, but rather than succumbing to the depression, she used it as a motivation to push herself harder.
The Calgary-based freeskier paid a tribute to her late friend by putting on a mesmerising performance at Winter X Games Aspen 2012 to clinch Women’s Ski SuperPipe Gold. She dedicated the success to Burke, claiming that she actually felt as if her late friend
was with her during the Final.
Winter X Games Tignes 2012 became the next stage for world’s top freeskiers to battle it out for top honours. With the absence of defending Women’s Ski SuperPipe Champion, Burke, missing from the state, Groenewoud was keen to take get to the throne and dedicate
yet another success to her friend.
As the Final of Women’s Ski SuperPipe got underway on Friday, March 16, the Canadian skier landed a solid Run 1 to take an early lead with a score of 86.88. With the likes of Devin Logan and Anais Caradeux in contention for the top spot on the podium, the
score was not expected to hold up for long.
The American freeskier Logan eventually managed to best her Canadian rival’s score by posting an 87.00 in her second run to move into the lead, putting the latter under pressure.
It came down to the final run for Groenewoud to try and put together a run that could help her to win the showdown. Logan raised the bar even further by improving her score to an 87.66,
Groenewoud needed to come up with something special to challenge her American rival’s score. Her determination to claim the highest spot on the podium not only for herself but for Burke sent her in an overdrive as she dropped into the halfpipe to land her
third and final run. Putting together a run that featured a 900, cork 540, 720 and switch 540, the Canadian skier left the judges convinced that it was indeed the most spectacular performance of the night and earned an 89.33 for the effort to walk away with
the gold.
“I knew I was in second. So I just tried to push myself and charge as hard as possible to get the gold. And it worked,” Groenewoud conceded after the podium presentation. “Sarah did it in her third run last year, too, and I was thinking about that up at
the top. I definitely felt her with me.”
Logan eventually had to settle for runner-up place, consequently taking home a silver medal for a performance that was nothing short of impressive either. Talking to a reporter after the event, she admitted that find a place on the podium was a great result
in itself and would give her the boost she needs to push herself even harder in the future.
Caradeux completed the podium during Friday’s Women’s Ski SuperPipe Finals after scoring an 85.00 off her third run.
While one cannot deny the fact that the death of Burke has left a void in women’s freeskiing contests, it is good to see the athletes putting in an immense effort to not only continue her job of taking the sport to another level by pushing the boundaries,
but also justifying the inclusion of the sport to the Winter Olympics line-up, courtesy of Burke’s persistence and hard work.
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