X Games Aspen Research Update for January 26, 2021
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X Games Aspen Research Update for January 26, 2021 Say What? (All quotes provided directly to X Games researchers unless otherwise noted.) Aspen local Alex Ferreira, the two-time defending Ski SuperPipe champ, on his focus at X Games: “I do tend to have my best results in Aspen. That’s been my career. I don’t typically do well at the World Cups. I do well at X Games and the bigger events because I just think there’s more on the line. It’s more intense. It matters so much more. X Games is truly our Super Bowl of skiing. It’s every little kid’s dream when they’re 10 years old to win X Games. It’s the big Kahuna.” Youth at X Games Aspen 2021 As of January 26, 16 teenagers are scheduled to compete at X Games Aspen 2021. Thirty of the 78 athletes currently on the X Games roster are 21 and under. • Aspen 2021: the 16 teens make up 20 percent of the field. • The 30 athletes age 21 and under comprise 38% of the field. • Fun Fact: 24 athletes at XG Aspen 2021 were born after Shaun White made his X Games rookie appearance at Mount Snow 2000. That’s 31%. White is now the oldest athlete scheduled to compete at Aspen 2021 (34 yrs. 4 mos.). Ten Youngest at XG Aspen 2021 (Youngest to Oldest) Age Sport/Discipline Career Medals Sonny Alba* 14 (W) SBD SuperPipe - Brooke D’Hondt 15 (W) SBD SuperPipe - Kokomo Murase 16 (W) SBD Big Air/Slopestyle 1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze Eileen Gu* 17 (W) SKI Slopestyle/SuperPipe/Big Air - Dusty 17 (M) SBD Big Air/Slopestyle/Knuckle Huck - Henricksen* Zoe Atkin 18 (W) SKI SuperPipe - Ruka Hirano* 18 (M) SBD SuperPipe - Kelly Sildaru 18 (W) SKI Big Air/Slopestyle/SuperPipe 5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze Ruki Tomita* 19 (W) SBD SuperPipe - Reira Iwabuchi 19 (W) SBD Big Air/Slopestyle 1 silver, 1 bronze *XG Rookie Can Kelly Conquer? • No teenagers competing at X Games Aspen 2021 are young enough to set new medal records or even register among the top 10 on the youngest winter event athletes of all-time, but two notable teen records could fall. • With any medal, Kelly Sildaru, 18, surpasses both Nyjah Huston and Shaun White for most X Games medals earned as a teenager. She’s one behind both of them in gold medals. Sildaru is scheduled to compete in all three women’s Ski disciplines. She won Slopestyle and SuperPipe at Aspen 2020 Most X Games Medals as a Teenager Count Breakdown Sport Teen Years Shaun White 9 6 gold, 3 silver SBD/SKB 2002-2006 Nyjah Huston 9 6 Gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze SKB 2009-2014 Kelly Sildaru* 9 5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze SKI 2016- Tom Schaar 8 1 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze SKB 2013-2019 Chloe Kim 7 5 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze SBD 2014-2020 Pedro Barros 7 5 gold, 2 silver SKB 2010-2014 Lyn-z Pastrana 7 3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze SKB 2003-2009 *Current teenage athlete Youngest Aspen 2021 Athletes in Ski & Snowboard SKI Eileen Gu, 17: Women’s SuperPipe/Slopestyle/Big Air. This Stanford-bound (1580 SAT!), Mandarin-speaking fashion model from San Francisco claims skiing was “just a hobby” until two years ago. She now has three World Cup wins and plans to defer Stanford until after the 2022 Beijing Olympics. She’ll represent China at X Games Aspen (her mother is Chinese). Gu is the only rookie in a Ski discipline at X Games Aspen 2021, but she’s considered a medal contender. She recently learned two forward doubles that will set her apart on the slope course: rightside double 1260 Weddle grab (formally known as mute grab) and left double 1080 Japan grab. SNOWBOARD (SBD) Sonny Alba, 14: Women’s SuperPipe. Eighth grader Sonora “Sonny” Alba is the overall youngest competitor at X Games Aspen 2021. Her first pro contest was less than a year ago at the Dew Tour, where she finished 7th in the modified superpipe competition. In March 2020 she won the Burton U.S. Open Junior Jam superpipe final. Watch for old-school flair that belies her young age: she loves alley-oop airs, throws handplants in competition superpipe runs and says Danny Davis is her snowboarding style icon. A serious gamer (Call of Duty and Fortnite, and she has played Rocket League), she is one of four female members of the U.S. Snowboard Pro Halfpipe Team. Ten Youngest X Games Winter Event Medalists, All Time Age Year/Sport/Discipline Finish Kokomo Murase 13 yrs. 6 mos. 2018 Norway: SBD Big Air (W) Gold Chloe Kim 13 yrs. 9 mos. 2014 Aspen: SBD SuperPipe (W) Silver Kelly Sildaru 13 yrs. 11 mos. 2016 Aspen: SKI Slopestyle (W) Gold Kokomo Murase 14. yrs. 9 mos. 2019 Norway: SBD Big Air (W) Silver Ayumu Hirano 14 yrs. 1 mo. 2013 Aspen: SBD SuperPipe (M) Silver Chloe Kim 14 yrs. 8 mos. 2015 Aspen: SBD SuperPipe (W) Gold Kelly Sildaru 14 yrs. 11 mos. 2017 Aspen: SKI Slopestyle/Big Air Gold/Silver Kelly Sildaru 15 yrs. 0 mos. 2017 Norway: SKI Big Air (W) Silver Maggie Voisin 15 yrs. 1 mo. 2014 Aspen: SKI Slopestyle (W) Silver Torin Yater-Wallace 15 yrs. 1 mo. 2011 Aspen: SKI SuperPipe (M) Silver Ten Youngest XG Winter Event Athletes of All Time Age Year/Sport/Discipline Finish Jamie Anderson 13 yrs. 4 mos. 2004: Snowboarder X (W) 9th Shaun White 13 yrs. 5 mos. 2000: SBD SuperPipe (M) 15th Kokomo Murase 13 yrs. 6 mos. Norway 2018: SBD Big Air (W) Gold Troy Horbaty 13 yrs. 7 mos. Aspen 2019: Snow BikeCross 16th Chloe Kim 13 yrs. 9 mos. 2014: SBD SuperPipe (W) Silver Kelly Sildaru 13 yrs. 11 mos. Aspen 2016: SKI Slopestyle (W) Gold Kelly Sildaru 14 yrs. 0 mos. Oslo 2016: SKI Big Air (W) 4th Ayumu Hirano 14 yrs. 1 mo. Aspen 2013: SBD SuperPipe (M) Silver Jamie Anderson 14 yrs. 4 mos. 2005: Snowboarder X (W) 8th Shaun White 14 yrs. 4 mos. 2001: SBD Slopestyle/SuperPipe 7th/9th SNOWBOARD Max Parrot: Extraordinary Recovery Max Parrot has made a career of beating everyone else on the roster. But his biggest triumph has been beating cancer. Parrot finished his chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2019. The French-Canadian says it’s difficult for him to talk about his competition accomplishments since then without getting emotional: • Big Air gold at XG Norway 2019 in August, just two months after his oncologist’s all- clear. “A career highlight contest for me, the one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.” • Big Air gold at XG Aspen 2020 in January, a triumphant return after missing the contest in 2019 -- his favorite contest every year -- for his first of 12 rounds of chemo. • Big Air silver and Slopestyle gold at XG Norway 2020 in February, his first X Games Slopestyle win since 2014. Looking back on it all -- cancer, chemo, being broken down, building himself back up, 4 X Games medals post-chemo -- Max says he’s been surprised to feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the entire experience. “Cancer is something I cannot change in my life path,” he says. “Before having it, I would have never said, ‘Please, God, give me lymphoma so I can be grateful afterwards.’ But I realize that I’ve actually learned a lot from it, and a lot about myself. “It gave me a lot of time to think about my career, myself, my future, my past, everything,” Parrot continues. “It gave me the power to feel more in the present moment. As nightmarish as it’s all been, I’ve been able to learn and grow from this. I’m 100 percent back, health-wise. I’ve been doing my lymphoma follow-ups and everything is all good: no cancer has come back, which is awesome. Then, to have a dream comeback at X Games? It was definitely one of the greatest years for me.” Parrot leads his lifelong rival Mark McMorris in Big Air medals despite taking silver to McMorris at Norway 2020. But Max values the competition his fellow Canadian brings. “Mark normally does better in Slopestyle, I do better in Big Air. Norway (2020) went the opposite way. It’s a good, friendly rivalry that adds a little spice to every contest and keeps pressure on both of us.” All-Time X Games Snowboard Big Air Medals Total Breakdown Max Parrot* 10 6 gold, 4 silver Mark McMorris 9 4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze Yuki Kadono* 6 1 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze Anna Gasser* 5 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze Torstein Horgmo 5 3 gold, 2 silver Barrett Christy 5 3 gold, 2 silver Kevin Jones 5 1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze *Competing in Big Air at X Games Aspen 2021 • DOB: 6/6/1994. Age: 26. • 13 medals (8 gold, 5 silver) from 13 X Games appearances: 6 gold, 4 silver in Big Air (the most gold and most medals in the discipline); 2 gold, 1 silver in Slopestyle. • Hasn’t missed the XG Aspen Big Air podium in 6 starts (5 gold, 1 silver). Has missed just one XG Big Air podium: Norway 2018 (5th). • Though we focus on his Big Air prowess, Slopestyle gold at XG Norway 2020 was no fluke: Max took Slopestyle silver as a rookie at XG Aspen 2013 and won gold in both Slopestyle and Big Air at XG Aspen 2014.