Winter X Games 15: Sizzling hot even on the last day – Part 2
The last day of Winter X Games 15 was pretty much on the roll. With four gold medals already awarded to the top dogs of this year, five big ones were still there for the grabs. The day continued to deliver the excitement to the fans of extreme sports as
the rest of the events gradually unfolded and reached their dramatic conclusions.
After the Snowmobile Adapative SnoCross event, it was time of the Snowmobile SnoCross final. Even though considered as one of the less thrilling event by some athletes, it still managed to become a centre of attention this Sunday, thanks to Tucker Hibbert.
The Minnesotan rider asserted his dominance of the discipline by capturing the gold for the fifth consecutive time in Snowmobile Snocross. With the latest gold medal, Hibbert broke the tie that he had with snowmobile and motocross legend Blair Morgan. He also
reached another landmark, earning his tenth Winter X medals in SnoCross. The silver medal of the contest went to Ross Martin from Wisconsin. Given a black flag for jumping the starting gun, Martin still managed to recover and land at second position. Canada’s
Robbie Malinoski completed the podium by finishing third and securing the bronze medal.
When Hibbert was done making history, the WX proceeded to the next event, Snowboard Slopestyle Men’s final. Eight riders entered the battle with only one tool at their disposal, style. After around seventy-five minutes of pure thrill and style, it was Sebastien
Toutant who managed to impress the judges the most and take home the gold medal in his very first WX.
The 18-year-old French Canadian had qualified for the final with a record 97 in eliminations. Living up to the hype that had suddenly enveloped him, the rookie nailed the final with a score of 93.00 after pulling off a Cab 270, a front 270 on the down rail,
front board bagel on the rainbow rail, 50/50 backside-rodeo on the canon box, Cab 12 double, front 10 double and the back 10 double on the three jumps respectively. Another WX rookie, Canada’s Mark McMoriss, found himself celebrating after winning the silver
medal. The Californian Tyler Flanagen made it to his first ever podium after clinching the bronze.
Snowboard Slopestyle final was followed by the Mono Skier X event. After a 15-minute semi-final, it was time for the final. Another stage for the handicapped athletes to make the world aware of their abilities rather than the disabilities, Mono Skier X was
nothing short of truly heart-touching and inspiring.
Scott Hamilton’s famous quote that the only handicap in life is bad attitude was reinforced by what we saw in the finals of Mono Skier X this year. After an interesting contest, it was the rookies who took over the podium. Canada’s Josh Dueck won the gold
medal after dominating the entire competition, getting the top time in the qualifiers, semis and final. His time in final was 1:59.656. Idaho’s Brandon Adam, who had lost his legs during the Iraq skirmish in 2005, took home the silver after finishing second.
Britain’s Sean Rose walked away with the bronze.
As WX 15 entered its evening, the Snowmobile Best Trick became the centre of attention at Buttermilk Mountain, Aspen. The format of this year’s Best Trick was a little modified. The competitors did not have to reveal their tricks beforehand to anyone as
was required in the past. Bringing the suspense to an end and replacing it with awe, the riders pulled off some of the most sensational tricks that took innovation to a completely new level. It was the Swedish Daniel Bodin who outscored his competitors with
a score of 96.00 and walk away with his second WX gold this year, the first coming in Snowmobile Freestyle on Thursday. Bodin secured the gold after pulling off a Double Grab backflip, a trick that he claimed he hadn’t even discussed with his own mother. The
silver medal went to the 23-year-old from Texas, Caleb Moore. He earned his second place score of 90.33 after pulling off a Carolla, a body varial where the rider barrels rolls his body above the machine, finishing it off with a no handed landing. The defending
gold medallist, Idaho’s Heath Frisby, had to settle for bronze this year. The highlight of the event came when the Moore brothers finally raised the curtain on the trick that they had been talking about all week, a trick that would allegedly cause mayhem.
It turned out to be a two-person Indian Air back-flip with Caleb driving and Colten hanging on to his brother while extending his body, mid-flip. The run obviously got a zero from the judges as Caleb was driving on Colten’s run. The Moore brothers simply did
it for exposure and they successfully got it.
The last event of the night and this year’s WX was Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe final. It was time to watch the snowboarders light the sky with their inner fires, fires that burnt because of their determination to win. It turned out to be Shaun White’s night
to shine once again. The Californian sensation redeemed himself after facing disappointment on Saturday, when he failed to qualify for the Slopestyle final. White wrote history by becoming the first person to win SuperPipe four-peat. He secured his victory
after the second run that earned him a massive score of 97.33. This run included a backside air, double cork stalefish 1080, cab double cork 1090, stalefish 5, double McTwist 1260 and backside alley oop rodeo. New Hampshire’s Scotty Lago earned himself the
silver medal. Ohio’s Louie Vito made it to his first ever podium after earning the bronze.
WX 15 turned out to be the year of the rookies, where majority of the podiums found first-timers on them. Where it was an encouragement for the fresh talent, it also became a warning signal for the existing aces. The competition is getting fiercer and it
is yet to be seen how the aces handle the recently realized and identified threat. With the WX 15 finishing, it’s time to move on to the next competition and watch how the story unravels. The next battle ground for these athletes would be at Tignes, France,
where the Winter X Games Europe 2011 would be kicking off from the 16th of March.
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