X Games Aspen 2021 DAILY UPDATE Saturday, January 30, 2021 Issue #2 Contents Quotable ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 SNOWBOARD ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Women’s Slopestyle Final ........................................................................................................................ 1 Knuckle Huck Final ................................................................................................................................... 4 Men’s Slopestyle Preview ........................................................................................................................ 5 Women’s BiG Air Preview ........................................................................................................................ 6 Women’s SuperPipe Preview ................................................................................................................... 8 SKI ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Women’s SuperPipe Final ........................................................................................................................ 9 Men’s SuperPipe Final ........................................................................................................................... 11 Women’s BiG Air Final ............................................................................................................................ 14 Women’s Slopestyle Preview ................................................................................................................ 16 Men’s BiG Air Preview ............................................................................................................................ 18 Quotable “I just wanted to have one medal and I thought that was super ambitious for my first X Games. My mind is absolutely blown. I can’t believe it.” -- Eileen Gu, after winning Women’s Ski SuperPipe gold. It was her second medal in her first ever day of X Games competitions -- she earned bronze in Big Air about 5 hours earlier. SNOWBOARD Women’s Slopestyle Final Friday, January 28, 2021 Researcher: Colin Bane Gold: Jamie Anderson Silver: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott Bronze: Laurie Blouin Anderson Extends Her Record • Jamie Anderson didn’t expect to find herself taking a Run 4 victory lap. She dropped to her knees in celebration at the top of the course when she realized she’d won on the strength of her very first run. She actually improved on it in the victory lap, adding a massive backside rodeo stalefish from the quarterpipe hip jump feature on her final hit that the judges loved. • Anderson, the oldest in the field at 30, got her first medal in the discipline (bronze) in 2006 at age 15 -- literally half her life ago. She earned her first Slopestyle gold the following year. After her victory lap she told reporter Jonathan “DC” Oetken, “I’m speechless I’m so grateful.” • Anderson is now the oldest Snowboard Slopestyle gold medalist (male or female) and youngest woman Snowboard Slopestyle gold medalist (age 16, 2007) in X Games history. • Her 7th Slopestyle gold extends her record for most X Games Slopestyle gold man or woman, Ski or Snowboard. For comparison: Shaun White, Mark McMorris and skier Kaya Turski each have 5. • Anderson is now No. 2 for most gold of any woman at X Games, behind snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis (10). She’s tied with snowboarder Kelly Clark and Aggressive In- Line skater Fabiola da Silva (7 each). • Her 18th career medal extends her record for most medals of any woman at X Games. She could make it 19 in Saturday’s SBD Big Air (she currently owns 2 bronze in the discipline). Third Slopestyle Medal for The Kiwi • Switch backside 900 Indy and backside 900 Weddle grab helped 2-time Slopestyle gold medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott add silver to her collection. She moved from the bronze to silver medal position with her final run. • She now owns 4 X Games medals from 5 appearances (she also owns Aspen 2019 Big Air silver). She competes in Big Air on Saturday. Second Slopestyle Medal for Blouin • Canadian Laurie Blouin landed the only frontside double cork 1080 of the contest (Run 4) and was briefly in silver medal position. • She now owns 4 X Games medals from 5 appearances (including her Aspen 2020 Slopestyle silver, Aspen 2019 Big Air gold and Norway 2020 Big Air bronze). She will compete in Big Air on Saturday. Tough Course Makes for Tough Day • Anna Gasser owns X Games Norway 2017 Slopestyle gold. Admire her courage, question her strategy. Gasser wanted to land a backside double cork 1080. She attempted it in all 4 runs, but she only landed it once…and then she fell on a 540 further down the course. She failed to complete a full-pull run. • Kokomo Murase was a podium favorite coming into the event, but a right ankle injury from Thursday night’s Big Air practice hobbled her. The 2-time Slopestyle medalist (Aspen and Norway 2020) decided to compete, and she landed 900s in several of her runs. But she was nowhere near throwing the double cork 1080s and double cork 1260 she had hoped to bring to the contest. • Hailey Langland crashed hard in warm-up just minutes before the start of the competition. She was evaluated by X Games Medical and transported for further evaluation, then released later in the day after being treated for left elbow dislocation. • Langland’s drop put German teen Annika Morgan, 17, in as a literally last-minute alternate. She finished 8th but impressed on the rails with a frontside noseblunt slide to 270 pretzel combo in multiple runs. Format: 35-minute jam session. Best run counts, ranked 1-8. Gold: Jamie Jamie’s Run 1 pass was good enough for gold: backside lipslide on down- Anderson flat kink rail, tailslide to fakie on rainbow rail, Cab 270 gap to boardslide on down rail, Cab double cork 900 Weddle grab, slow-spinning frontside 540 truck driver, switch backside 180 Indy on transition jump, alley-oop See the Runs backside 720 stalefish. Judges felt her victory lap in Run 4 was even better: she did essentially the same run but upgraded the final hit to a massive backside rodeo stalefish. Silver: Zoi Her last pass, Run 4, was her best: She moved up from bronze to silver Sadowski-Synnott with the effort. Her two 900s made the difference: 50-50 gap transfer to boardslide, boardslide to fakie, switch frontside boardslide 270 out, switch backside 900 Indy, backside 900 Weddle grab (hand touch on the landing), huge Cab 540 underflip from the first transition jump, crippler from the final transition feature. Bronze: Laurie Her Run 4 pass briefly put her in silver medal position: Cab 180 to 50- Blouin 50, frontside boardslide, boardslide to fakie, Cab double underflip Weddle, frontside double cork 1080, crippler, frontside 360. 4. Julia Marino After struggling on the course all week, and with falls in 3 of 4 runs, Julia seemed as surprised as anyone to be in podium position for much of the contest. Run 2 was her best pass: boardslide on down-flat kink rail, frontside boardslide up cannon rail to fakie, Cab to backside 360 out, backside 900 melon, Cab double underflip Weddle, crippler, alley-oop frontside 360 (no grab). 5. Kokomo Murase Evaluated for a right ankle injury the night before and the morning of the contest, and clearly not feeling 100 on it. Her best pass was Run 2: boardslide kink, noseslide pretzel up rail, switch boardlside 270 out, cab 5 Weddle, front 5 Indy, switch back 180 Indy, alley-oop backside 900 no grab Weddle (bumps to 3rd). 6. Reira Iwabuchi Falls on the last jump in all 4 passes, and analyst Craig McMorris was blunt: “I’ve got to be honest with you, this quarterpipe has just been mean.” Run 4 was her best pass: 50-50 gap transfer to 50-50, 50-50 up Cannon rail, frontside 180 on to switch 50-50 to switch backside 360 out, Cab 900 stalefish, backside 1080 Weddle, fall attempting an alley-oop frontside 360 from the final transition jump feature. 7. Anna Gasser The backside double cork 1080 melon she landed in Run 3 was a sign of the fireworks she’d hoped to bring, but she fell in all 4 passes (including three times on that double cork 1080). Run 2 was her best: boardslide tap on “doghouse” rail feature, 50-50 to backside 180 out, switch boardslide to regular, frontside boardslide 270 out, backside double cork 1080 melon (sat down briefly), skipped jump 2, switch backside 180 Indy from left quarterpipe, crippler from right quarterpipe. 8. Annika Morgan In the contest on a minute’s notice after Hailey Langland’s crash in warm-ups just before the scheduled start of the contest, the 17-year-old had her best pass in Run 4. boardslide 50-50 to backside 360 out, noseslide to pretzel out, Cab 540 Weddle, backside 720 Weddle, fall on final jump. Knuckle Huck Final Friday, January 28, 2021 Researcher: Colin Bane Gold: Dusty Henricksen You Win Knuckle Huck, And You Win Knuckle Huck, And… • Rookie Dusty Henricksen, 17, became the 4th unique gold medalist in the short history of SBD Knuckle Huck. Henricksen used inverted tricks including a fakie nose- press nollie Cab 540 underflip and a Cab 180 tail-press melon to frontflip as well as a stylish layback hand drag to pretzel backside 180. The rookie is also a podium threat in Slopestyle and Big Air. • The Mammoth Lakes, CA, native