ASPEN — Slopestyle snowboarders were rewarded more for their creativity and complicated work on the rails than technical spins off the jumps Sunday on the Winter X Games course.
Mark McMorris, the top qualifier, claimed his fifth X Games gold with fluid, fun lines on the course’s rails and a new trick on the first jump. With his big air gold from Friday, McMorris twice has won two golds in an X Games year.
Spinning a unique line through the rail section, McMorris was able to pass Norwegian rider Stale Sandbech, even though Sandbech’s flipping tricks off the jumps were more technical.
Both riders hit switch backside 1260s off the first hit, a first for McMorris. He said the new switch 12 contributed to his 96-point second run.
“I wanted to do something different, and I’m glad I took the time and brought that switch 12 into the run because I think it played huge on my score,” he said. “I think the rails definitely set me apart too.”
Sandbech earned his first X Games silver, adding to his trio of bronze medals. Swedish rider Sven Thorgren collected his first X Games medal, a bronze.
Rail riding also played a big role in the women’s contest earlier Sunday. Norway’s Silje Norendal defended her 2014 gold with a final run that sneaked past four-time gold medalist Jamie Anderson.
Norendal, 21, spun technical rails at the top of the course — riding on the wall and grinding rotations off the rails — fueling a 93.66 score that pushed her past Anderson’s second-run 91.33.
Anderson, who won gold in her sport’s Olympic debut last year at the Sochi Games, was the only American in the finals. Her airs were some of the largest of the competition, but her rail section work paled vs. Norendal’s.
New Zealand’s Christy Prior, an X Games rookie who won bronze on the Dew Tour, sneaked past Spencer O’Brien on her final run to capture bronze.
Collection complete. Garrett Goodwin completed his methodical climb up the podium Sunday by winning gold in the adaptive snocross finals.
The 22-year-old Goodwin, who won bronze as an adaptive rookie in 2013 and claimed silver last year, held off a couple of charges by Doug Henry, who finished with his second X Games silver.
Four-time defending champion in the adaptive snowboarder qualifier.
Eight in a row. Tucker Hibbert continued his dominance in snocross, winning for the eighth consecutive X Games.
The 30-year-old has nine total golds, and also has three silvers and a bronze. Jason Blevins and David Krause, The Denver Post
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