By Tom Ruminski, sportsnet.ca
The 2013 edition of the Winter X Games has officially taken over Aspen, Colorado, thanks in large part to a statement performance by Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris.
In what is being built as a heavyweight championship bout — think Frazier vs. Ali, LeBron against Kobe magnitude — the 19-year-old McMorris finds himself defending his gold medal crown in slopestyle against the legendary Shaun White, a global snowboarding superstar who has electrified fans around the world for a greater part of the last decade.
Taking down White is no easy task, especially when you take into consideration that he has 12-career gold medals at the Winter X Games, including five in slopestyle. Yet, McMorris came out swinging in the qualifications of the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Eliminations on Thursday.
McMorris, who hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, stomped several big tricks, including a cab double 900, frontside double 1080, double wildcat, and backside double 1080, on his way to posting the No. 1 qualification score with an 88.66. Here’s video of his first run.
White came out looking to match McMorris, but ended up hand-touching on a couple of landings after throwing down a massive backside 1080. The two-time Olympic gold medalist finished with a 67.33, good enough for seventh place, and a spot in Saturday’s final at Buttermilk Mountain. Watch White’s response to McMorris in his first run of the day.
Now let’s check out who else rose to the occasion in day one.
Levi LaVallee, or Launchin’ Levi as his friends like to call him, took home the title in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final after posting a score of 89.00. Here’s his gold-medal winning run.
Alexander the Great conquered the modern world, Napolean Bonaparte ruled the battlefield, and freestyle skier David Wise dominated Men’s Ski SuperPipe. The team USA star wowed the crowd at Buttermilk Mountain all afternoon with a dazzling arsenal of tricks. Wise’s best run of the day included a combination of a rightside 7, switch double, rightside 9, double cork 12, and an alley-oop flatpspin 5.
White is a rock star, there is no doubt about it. However, he was outshone again on this day as Iouri Podladtchikov finished a spot ahead of him in Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Eliminations. The 24-year-old Swiss native edged out White with a run score of 87.33.
Honorable Mention: Ayumu Hirano of Japan is 14 and threw down a double cork in his first run of the day. The eight-grader is the youngest athlete competing at the X Games.
In addition to McMorris, French Canadian Sebastien Toutant also competed in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Eliminations. However, he wasn’t able to crake a spot in the necessary top eight after failing to put together two consistent runs. Toutant, a silver medalist in Snowboard Big Air at the 2011 X Games, finished with a score of 43.66.
Mike Riddle and Noah Bouman failed to advance past the elimination round of the Men’s Ski SuperPipe. Bourman barely missed the top eight as he finished in ninth place with a score of 70.66, just behind freestyle ski legend Simon Dumont who nailed down the final spot with a 72.66. Riddle finished a disappointing 14th with a score of 34.66.
Daily Socialites: Best Tweets
Haven’t been on the bubble in a while. Makes me feel young again. -SW — Shaun White (@Shaun_White) January 24, 2013
Haven’t been on the bubble in a while. Makes me feel young again. -SW
— Shaun White (@Shaun_White) January 24, 2013
Now it’s up to you to VOTE for the #XGAMES Moment of the Day! Who’s your pick @levi_lavallee or @markmcmorris? xgames.com/mod — X Games (@XGames) January 25, 2013
Now it’s up to you to VOTE for the #XGAMES Moment of the Day! Who’s your pick @levi_lavallee or @markmcmorris? xgames.com/mod
— X Games (@XGames) January 25, 2013
14 year old #AyumuHirano @hitschhaller & shaunwhite advance to the Men’s #Superp @ WInter X-Games Superpipe instagr.am/p/U5Lxd3MVbh/ — Burton Snowboards (@burtonsnowboard) January 25, 2013
14 year old #AyumuHirano @hitschhaller & shaunwhite advance to the Men’s #Superp @ WInter X-Games Superpipe instagr.am/p/U5Lxd3MVbh/
— Burton Snowboards (@burtonsnowboard) January 25, 2013
Watching the x-games thinking wow this is really cool, really popular and really stupid dangerous. Maybe that’s what people want? — Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) January 25, 2013
Watching the x-games thinking wow this is really cool, really popular and really stupid dangerous. Maybe that’s what people want?
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) January 25, 2013
Didn’t make to Final for the @xgames Slopestyle today… I guess there is days like these.. I’m gonna go All IN for Big Air! — Sebastien Toutant (@SebToots) January 24, 2013
Didn’t make to Final for the @xgames Slopestyle today… I guess there is days like these.. I’m gonna go All IN for Big Air!
— Sebastien Toutant (@SebToots) January 24, 2013
Today went amazing! Looking forward to the rest of the week here @xgames. Thanks so much for all the support tweeters!:) — Mark McMorris (@markmcmorris) January 24, 2013
Today went amazing! Looking forward to the rest of the week here @xgames. Thanks so much for all the support tweeters!:)
— Mark McMorris (@markmcmorris) January 24, 2013
Will @shaun_white throw down the elusive triple cork at @xgames? Find out today! Tune in to #ESPN now. #GoProX twitter.com/GoPro/status/2… — GoPro® (@GoPro) January 24, 2013
Will @shaun_white throw down the elusive triple cork at @xgames? Find out today! Tune in to #ESPN now. #GoProX twitter.com/GoPro/status/2…
— GoPro® (@GoPro) January 24, 2013
White competes in Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Elimination.
Wise doing his thing in the Men’s Ski SuperPipe.
X Games Real Snow 2013: Louif Paradis
