Danny Davis Wins X Games Superpipe!
It may have took six attempts and career injuries including a broken back and shattered pelvis but Danny Davis finally got a well deserved gold at the X Games!
With just over two weeks to go to Sochi many of the Olympics hopefuls will find inspiration in Danny remarkable achievement given the setback that could so easily have ended his career.
In a amazing finale to the X Games Aspen 2014, Danny Davis took the top spot after beating Louie Vito and Greg Bretz. It took six attempts to qualify for the final and he wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
"I can't believe it really," said Davis, who set himself apart with rare and stylish technical tricks like a huge switch method and tweaked-out McTwist, as well as the double cork spins that have become standard in this event. "I'm going to ride this switch method train as long as it will last."
Speaking about Shaun White absence Davis said the following:
"It's bittersweet when Shaun's not here -- you know, he's the one to beat -- but forget it, I'll take it," Davis said.
Davis, Bretz and Taylor Gold -- who missed the cut for the final -- will join White next month in Sochi with the U.S. Olympic team.
The X Games threw up a number of surprises and some of the regular faces were pushed off the top spot this included two-time defending Snowboard Slopestyle champs Mark McMorris and Jamie Anderson, who both came close but fell just short of the top spots. McMorris also suffered a broken rib that could not have come at a worse time with Sochi just around the corner.
kelly clark (usa) at halfpipe final
photo by phil ellsworth/espn images
Kelly Clark suffered no hiccups in her halpipe performance and earned X Games Aspen four-peat, as well as winning the 70th contest of her career. Clark is clearly not ready to give up her throne yet, but if your looking foe the next successor then Chloe Kim could well be the the next big thing at only 13 Chlos became the youngest winter X medalist earning silver, less than one point behind Clark, 31.
podium x games halfpipe finals
photo: kaitlyn egan/espn images
In the same contest, one of the defining action sports stars of the past decade, Aspen local and four-time X Games champion Gretchen Bleiler, bid her backyard contest adieu with the same glowing grin that announced her arrival in 1999. "Thank you for always cheering me on," Bleiler told the crowd after the final competition run of her career.
The king and queen of the Snowboarder X course, Nate Holland and Lindsey Jacobellis, are hoping their victories in Aspen this week -- the eighth for Jacobellis and seventh for Holland -- will give them enough momentum to (finally) win Olympic gold. There may not be two more motivated athletes in Sochi.
X-Games Results!
26/01/2014
Women’s Halfpipe Finals
Kelly Clark (USA) 95
Chloe Kim (USA) 94,33
Kaitlyn Farrington (USA) 94
Arielle Gold (USA) 91
Queralt Castellet (SPA) 90
Gretchen Bleiler (USA) 85
Sophie Rodriguez (FRA) 73,66
Elena Hight (USA) 35
Results Men Slopestyle Finals
Maxence Parrot (CAN) 96,33
Mark McMorris (CAN) 95,66
Stale Sandbech (NOR) 90.00
Aleksander Ostreng (NOR) 70,33
Chas Guldemond (USA) 60
Torstein Horgmo (NOR) 46,33
Sebastien Toutant (CAN) 19,66
Emil Andre Ulsletten (NOR) 17,33
Results Women Slopestyle Finals
Silje Norendal (NOR) 96
Jamie Anderson (USA) 95,66
Spencer O’Brien (CAN) 94
Kjersti Ostgaard Buas (NOR) 88
Anna Gasser (AUT) 87,66
Isabel Derungs (SUI) 84,66
Aimee Fuller (GBR) 63
Sarka Pancochova (CZE) 28,33
X Games Aspen Big Air Finals
The best two runs were aggregated for the winner score.
Maxence Parrot 93.00
Yuki Kadono 88
Stale Sandbech 77
Seppe Smits 77
Sven Thorgren 67
Torgeir Bergrem 64
Related Pages
Aspen
Sits right on the edge of town. Some surprisingly good steep runs, but zero freeride opportunities and for a park you best head to Buttermilk or snowmass