X Games Aspen 2021 DAILY UPDATE Friday, January 29, 2021 Issue #1 Contents Quotable ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Fact Collector X Games Aspen 2021 .............................................................................................................. 1 Course Descriptions ....................................................................................................................................... 7 SuperPipe ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Big Air ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Slopestyle ................................................................................................................................................... 7 SNOWBOARD ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Women’s Slopestyle Preview .................................................................................................................... 8 Knuckle Huck Preview .............................................................................................................................. 10 SKI ................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Women’s SuperPipe Preview................................................................................................................... 12 Men’s SuperPipe Preview ........................................................................................................................ 13 Women’s Big Air Preview......................................................................................................................... 15 Quotable “It is mortifying. In the next X Games I want to return with a gold medal.” -- Kokomo Murase, on earning a silver medal in Slopestyle at X Games Norway 2020. “Knuckle Huck is like getting to go to recess. I can’t wait.” --Dusty Henricksen, 17-year-old X Games rookie. Fact Collector X Games Aspen 2021 Fact Collector X Games Aspen 2021 X Games Athletes • 4,123 athletes have competed at X Games, through X Games Norway 2020. • Including the USA, 55 different countries have been represented at X Games; 39 different countries have earned at least one medal. • 38 medals in 14 disciplines will be awarded at X Games Aspen 2021. Ski and Snowboard Knuckle Huck are gold only, all others are gold-silver-bronze. X Games Medals • 1,220 gold medals have been awarded through XG Norway & Real Series 2020. • 1,124 silver medals have been awarded through XG Norway & Real Series 2020. • 1,129 bronze medals have been awarded through XG Norway & Real Series 2020. • 3,473 total medals have been awarded through XG Norway & Real Series 2020. X Games Aspen 2021 Sports/Disciplines This is the 20th year of X Games Aspen -- X Games was first held in Aspen in 2002. Research will track 14 disciplines at X Games Aspen 2021. • Snowboard (tri-code SBD): Jeep Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle, Jeep Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, The Real Cost Men’s Snowboard Big Air, Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air, Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe, Monster Energy Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe, Wendy’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck. • Ski (tri-code SKI): Jeep Men’s Ski Slopestyle, Jeep Women’s Ski Slopestyle, The Real Cost Men’s Ski Big Air, Women’s Ski Big Air, Men’s Ski SuperPipe, Women’s Ski SuperPipe, Wendy’s Ski Knuckle Huck XG Location History (Primarily Summer) • Extreme Games (X Games 1) 1995: Newport, RI • X Games Providence 1996 • X Games San Diego 1997-98 • X Games San Francisco 1999-2000 • X Games Philadelphia 2001-02 • X Games Los Angeles 2003-12 • X Games Foz do Iguaçu 2013 (April) • X Games Barcelona 2013 (May) • X Games Munich 2013 (June) • X Games Los Angeles 2013 (August) • X Games Austin 2014-2016 • X Games Sydney 2018 • X Games Shanghai 2019 (June) • X Games Minneapolis 2017-2019 • X Games Norway 2019 XG Location History (Primarily Winter) • X Games Big Bear 1997 • X Games Crested Butte 1998-1999 • X Games Mount Snow 2000-2001 • X Games Tignes 2013 • X Games Oslo 2016 • X Games Norway 2017-2018, 2020 • X Games Aspen 2002-2021 X Games Aspen 2021 FACTS *Due to athlete adds/drops, stats could change as competition progresses Number of Athletes 80 Number of Rookies 5 Number of Sports 2 (Snowboard, Ski) Number of Medal 14 Disciplines Average athlete 23 yrs. 3 mos. age Teenagers 17 (21% of the field). States represented 11 State with the most California: 11 athletes Countries 16 represented Country with the USA, 28; Japan, 11 (second-most). most athletes Countries that have 55 competed at XG Number of 39 countries to medal at XG (summer and winter disciplines) XG Aspen 2021 KEY STORIES & STATS Key Legends White, Kim Return! Stats Shaun White will compete at X Games for the first time since X Games Aspen 2017, when he finished 11th in SuperPipe. It’s his first contest at all in three years -- since he won his 3rd Olympic gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Shaun’s last X Games medal came at Aspen 2013, when he won his 8th SuperPipe gold and 15th gold overall. Chloe Kim is back at X Games after taking last season off to focus on her first year at Princeton. Chloe owns 5 X Games gold medals and 7 medals total, all in Snowboard SuperPipe. Attack of the Teens: 17 teenagers comprise 21% of the field at X Games Aspen 2021. 31 athletes (39%) are 21 and under. 24 Aspen 2021 athletes were born AFTER Shaun White made his X Games debut at Mount Snow 2000. While no “youngest” records are in play, there could be one major shakeup in teen records: With any medal, Kelly Sildaru, 18, surpasses both Nyjah Huston and Shaun White for most medals earned as a teenager. She’s also one behind both of them in total gold medals. Sildaru is scheduled to compete in all three women’s Ski disciplines at Aspen 2021. She won Slopestyle and SuperPipe at Aspen 2020. Most X Games Medals as a Teenager Count Breakdown Sport Shaun White 9 6 gold, 3 silver SBD/SKB Nyjah Huston 9 6 Gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze SKB Kelly Sildaru* 9 5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze SKI Tom Schaar 8 1 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze SKB Chloe Kim 7 5 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze SBD Pedro Barros 7 5 gold, 2 silver SKB Lyn-z Pastrana 7 3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze SKB *Current teenage athlete WOAH: 24 athletes, nearly one third of the entire athlete X Games Aspen 2021 field, were born after Shaun White made his X Games rookie appearance in January 2000. He’s now the oldest athlete competing at Aspen 2021 (34 yrs. 4 mos.). White already owns the most gold medals in X Games history (15). He’s tied for third on the all-time medal chart (23). If White medals in Men’s SBD SuperPipe, he’ll pull into a tie with Dave Mirra for second on the medal list. Bob Burnquist leads with 30. Bob Burnquist: 30 Dave Mirra: 24 Shaun White: 23 Andy Macdonald: 23 Pierre-Luc Gagnon: 21 Triple Trouble --7 athletes at X Games Aspen 2021 are scheduled to compete in 3 disciplines. • Alex Hall: Men’s Ski Slopestyle/Big Air/Knuckle Huck • Henrik Harlaut: Men’s Ski Slopestyle/Big Air/Knuckle Huck • Eileen Gu: Women’s Ski Slopestyle/Big Air/SuperPipe • Kelly Sildaru: Women’s Ski Slopestyle/Big Air/SuperPipe • Marcus Kleveland: Men’s SBD Slopestyle/Big Air/Knuckle Huck • Dusty Henricksen: Men’s SBD Slopestyle/Big Air/Knuckle Huck • Jamie Anderson: Women’s SBD Slopestyle/Big Air/Knuckle Huck (Jamie will be the first woman to compete in Ski or SBD Knuckle Huck) • Only 3 athletes in X Games history have won 3 gold medals at a single X Games. It hasn’t happened since 2006, and it’s never occurred in winter disciplines. Just 3 athletes have earned 3 medals at an X Games winter event (Skier Kelly Sildaru, Aspen 2019; Snowmobiler Joe Parsons, 2013; Snowboarder Jennie Waara, 1997). 3 Gold at One X Games Year Disciplines Travis Pastrana 2006 MTX Best Trick & Freestyle; RCR Racing Rodil de Araujo 2002 SKB Park, Street & Street Best Trick Dave Mirra 1998 BMX Vert, Vert Doubles & Park --Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle: No U.S. athlete has won since Shaun White took gold in 2009. That’s a 0-14 streak. Red Gerard’s bronze at X Games Aspen 2020 ended an 8-year Slopestyle medal drought for the United States. Three U.S. athletes are competing in Men’s SBD Slopestyle in Aspen. With Mark McMorris absent (COVID-19), the door is wide open for the USA. --STREAK! Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle is also riding a 5-rider unique streak at the moment. Going back to Sven Thorgren’s win at Norway 2017, 5 different riders have won the discipline at X Games. That ties the longest unique streak in XG Slopestyle history (Andreas Wiig in 2008 through Mark McMorris, 2012). --Men’s Snowboard Big Air: It’s just as bleak for the Americans in Big Air. USA has not won gold since Travis Rice in 2009. Two Americans are competing in Big Air, including Chris Corning, the last American to medal (bronze, Norway 2018). --Henrik Harlaut is tied with Tanner Hall for most Ski gold medals in X Games history (7). At X Games Aspen 2020, Harlaut broke a tie with Hall for most X Games Ski medals overall -- Harlaut now leads with 12. The Swede has 3 chances to break the gold medal tie at X Games Aspen 2021: He competes in Big Air, Slopestyle and Knuckle Huck. --Anna Gasser is locked