Snowboarding
The American-invented sport of snowboarding enters its third Olympics with a new addition in 2006. Beyond the disciplines of halfpipe and alpine racing that have been part of the Games since 1998, snowboardcross will be added to the lineup in Turin. Falling into the seam between halfpipe freestyle and beat-the-clock alpine racing, snowboardcross is a four-person frenzy down an elaborate course riddled with jumps, banked turns, gaps and rollers. First one down wins. Similarly, the alpine race discipline of parallel giant slalom pits two racers against each other on a more traditional GS course, with the winner of two head-to-head runs advancing through the ranks to the podium. Finally there’s halfpipe, the sport’s most popular discipline. Riding through a 500-foot “U” shaped bowl of snow, riders bank off the walls to perform a variety of tricks, flips and spins in the only judged snowboard event at the Games.
The U.S. Olympic Team
SNOWBOARDCROSS
Men
Jayson Hale, 20, Sierraville, Calif.
Nate Holland, 27, Olympic Valley, Calif.
Jason Smith, 24, Basalt
Seth Wescott, 29, Farmington, Maine
Women
Lindsey Jacobellis, 20, Stratton, Vt.
HALFPIPE
Men
Mason Aguirre, 18, Duluth, Minn.
Andy Finch, 24, Fresno, Calif.
Danny Kass, 23, Hamburg, N.J. (2002 Olympics)
Shaun White, 19, Carlsbad, Calif.
Women
Gretchen Bleiler, 24, Aspen/Snowmass Village
Kelly Clark, 22, Mount Snow, Vt. (2002)
Elena Hight, 16, Zephyr Cove, Nev.
Hannah Teter, 18, Belmont, Vt.
ALPINE
Men
Tyler Jewell, 28, Sudbury, Mass.
Women
Rosey Fletcher, 30, Girdwood, Alaska (1998, 2002)
Michelle Gorgone, 22, Sudbury, Mass.
Sure bet
Shaun White, USA
Only 19, halfpipe specialist Shaun White already has won everything there is to win the sport – except an Olympic medal. A multiple X Games gold medalist, White won every U.S. Olympic team qualifier this winter (five of them) and his back-to-back 1,080-degree spins off opposing walls of the halfpipe have set the standard for difficulty. If White stumbles in the pipe, it’s only because he’s raising the bar he has already set so high.
Who to watch
Seth Wescott, USA
Wescott, the 29-year-old reigning snowboardcross world champion, finished fourth at last month’s X Games in Aspen but shouldn’t be denied a medal when the event makes its debut in Turin.
Antti Autti, Finland
Autti, former X Games gold medalist and current men’s world champion, should provide the biggest challenge to White in the halfpipe. Autti is also the world champion in “big air” and regularly incorporates big 1,080 spins into his halfpipe routine.
Lindsey Jacobellis, USA
Jacobellis, 20, of Vermont is the reigning women’s world champion in snowboardcross and is heavily favored in Turin. The three-time X Games gold medalist nearly earned a start in Olympic halfpipe competition as well.
Colorado connection
Gretchen Bleiler, USA
Bleiler, 24, of Aspen leads the charge, using her “Crippler 540” to qualify first among American Olympians in the halfpipe. Bleiler, a two-time Winter X Games gold medalist and U.S. Open champion, has incorporated a 900-degree spin into her halfpipe routine this season, qualifying it among the most difficult in women’s competition.
Did you know
The sport of snowboarding was invented in America. Steamboat Springs resident Sherm Poppen is credited with inspiring the modern version of the sport when he invented the “Snurfer” in 1965 by bracing a pair of skis together and riding sideways down his backyard in Michigan. Accordingly, the U.S. has won more snowboarding medals than any other nation (seven) since the sport gained Olympic status in 1998.
Best all time
Team USA, 2002
Led by gold medalist Ross Powers of Vermont, the U.S. men’s halfpipe team swept the Salt Lake City halfpipe podium in 2002. Returning 2006 Olympian Danny Kass of New Jersey and JJ Thomas of Golden earned silver and bronze, respectively, marking the first U.S. Olympic podium sweep in any sport since 1956. Kelly Clark of Vermont represented the women with a gold medal of her own, while Aspen’s Chris Klug took the bronze in parallel giant slalom to up the total medal count to five at the Games.
Freestyle skiing
Named for the free and creative displays of skiing skills introduced by athletes who resisted traditional alpine racing, freestyle skiing has been part of the Winter Olympics since 1992. Divided into the disciplines of moguls and aerials, both sides of the judged sport rely heavily on jumping. Moguls skiers combine the pulsating charge down a slope covered in snowy bumps with two mandatory jumps off mid-course kickers. Skiers are judged on their turn technique through the bumps and the difficulty and style incorporated into the jumps. The speed of the run also is factored into their final score. In aerials, skiers are launched 50 feet of more into the air off a steep jump built from snow. Athletes register a “flight plan” identifying jumps that incorporate a series of intricate flips and twists that are judged on difficulty, style and landings.
The U.S. Olympic team
MOGULS
Men
Jeremy Bloom, 23, Loveland (2002 Olympics)
Travis Cabral, 22, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Toby Dawson, 27, Vail
Travis Mayer, 23, Steamboat Springs (2002 Olympics-moguls silver medalist)
Women
Shannon Bahrke, 25, Tahoe City, Calif. (2002 Olympics-moguls silver medalist)
Hannah Kearney, 19, Norwich, Vt. (2005 moguls world champion)
Michelle Roark, 31, Denver
Jillian Vogtli, 32, Ellicottville, N.Y. (2002)
AERIALS
Men
Eric Bergoust, 36, Missoula, Mont (1994, 1998, 2002-1998 aerials champion)
Joe Pack, 27, Park City, Utah (2002-aerials silver medalist)
Jeret Peterson, 24, Boise, Idaho (2002)
Ryan St. Onge, 22 (23 on Feb. 7), Steamboat Springs
Women
Emily Cook, 26, Belmont, Mass.
Jana Lindsey, 21, Black Hawk, S.D.
Sure bet
Jeremy Bloom, USA
After putting his football career at the University of Colorado on hold, Jeremy Bloom, 23, of Loveland put together a record six straight World Cup wins in moguls competition last season, good enough for the overall World Cup title in the discipline. He picked up right where he left off this season and became the first man to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. After finishing ninth in Olympic moguls competition in 2002, Bloom hopes to transfer his recent success on the World Cup into Olympic gold before trying out for the NFL next season.
Who to watch
Ryan St. Onge, USA
Aerialist St. Onge is surprisingly analytical for a guy who had to switch high schools after skipping too many days of class to go skiing at Winter Park. But since moving to Steamboat Springs, “Flyin’ Ryan,” 23, also has moved to the top of his game, using his quad-twisting, triple-flipping jumps to win his fourth World Cup gold medal this season and become the first American aerialist named to the U.S. team when he won the U.S. Ski Team Olympic trials in his hometown Dec. 30.
Jeret Peterson, USA
Defending World Cup aerials champion Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, 24, of Boise, Idaho, will unleash his signature jump – the “Hurricane” – on the Olympic field for the first time in Turin. The 2002 Olympian has upped the ante this time around by adding an additional twist to his triple back flip, capping the difficulty level with five twists.
Michelle Roark, USA
Denverite Roark, 31, is on a roll heading into to Turin, winning back-to-back World Cup moguls competitions in the month before the Games and finishing fourth in a third. After undergoing six knee surgeries, Roark is healthy and rededicated to the sport as she enters her first Olympics.
Did you know
Aerial skiers go higher off the ground than any other Olympians. Traditional ski jumpers usually are about 20 feet from the ground during a jump, while aerialists routinely travel up to 60 feet above ground.
American Eric Bergoust, the 1998 gold medalist now 36 years old, has made the final of every Olympic aerial competition since the event became a medal sport in 1994.
Colorado connection
Toby Dawson, Vail
Dawson, 27, was born in South Korea and adopted by two ski instructors from Vail when he was 3. He has been on skis ever since, catching the freestyle bug at age 12 and developing his skills enough to win the world championship in dual moguls last season. He earned his first Olympic berth in moguls competition this year. Dawson’s “go big” aerials style in the bumps has caught the eye of Colorado-based filmmakers Warren Miller Productions, which has featured him in four films so far – “Ride,” “Cold Fusion,” “Storm” and most recently “Journey.”
