Winter X Games 15: Torstein Horgmo and Recapping the Winners From Day Two
Torstein Horgmo rocked the action sport world by landing the first triple cork in Winter X Games history.
The Norwegian entered the competition with broken ribs and crashed on his first throw. He still managed to come up with two killer runs to win the gold medal with a total score of 80.
The new Snowboard Big Air champ tweeted, “Head hurts, ribs hurt, somehow the best night ever though.”
This is the second time Horgmo has taken a WX gold in Big Air.
Young Canadian Sebastien Toutant took the silver medal. His perfectly executed Backside 1260 actually scored higher than Horgmo’s triple. He finished with a combined score of 79.
American sophomore Sage Kotsenburg's score of 77 was good enough for bronze.
Kevin Rolland Wins Gold, Again
Frenchman Kevin Rolland is now a back-to-back gold medallist in the Men’s Ski Superpipe.
Rolland crashed hard in his first run, but that only built the drama for later. The reigning champ was trailing going into his last run, the final run of the night. He took no prisoners, landing two doubles and two switches to score a 93.66.
His last trick was an absolutely sick Double Cork 1260.
The big surprise of the night came from local American Torin Yater-Wallace. The high school freshman took silver with a score of 92.66 on his home pipe. At 15 years old, he is the same age of the Winter X competition, and the youngest male ever to medal.
The Aspen native tweeted, “Got 2nd in my first X-Games, This is the best night of my life!!!!!!”
Veteran American Simon Dumont won bronze.
Joe Parsons Is Speed and Style Champ
Joe Parsons is no newcomer to the victory podium, as he is fourth all-time in WX medals.
He added another gold to that count, winning the Snowmobile Speed & Style competition Friday night. The American also won this event in 2009.
Parsons beat Day One star and Freestyle champ Daniel Bodin in the semi-final.
The Americans swept the podium with Heath Frisby taking silver and Cory Davis winning bronze.
Roundup: Shaun White and Scotty Lago
The last time Shaun White missed a WX final (ten years ago!) was because of injury. This time he missed the finals in Snowboard Slopestyle because he wasn’t good enough.
While he’s still the most talented rider out there, it’s clear he hasn’t kept up with the competition. He wasn’t tricking to the level of the rest of the field, so his 13th place in the elimination round was deserving.
This isn’t as big of a surprise as it seems. White has had his focus on the pipe, so his Slopestyle game has taken a hit.
He seemed to be feeling out the competition, even saying he “learned a new trick by just being here.” We could see a different White at this time next year. Someone of his abilities won’t want to show another 13th place.
The Olympic champ still has the Superpipe to come.
Also, Scotty Lago was voted by fans as having the Best Method. Ross Powers was second, and Chas Guldemond was third.