Corning and other snowboarders dazzle crowd at Braves’ ballpark
Charlie Culberson watched in wonder as Chris Corning flipped four times off a 5-meter jump to stick a perfect landing and make a bit of snowboarding history in a Big Air competition.
Culberson, an Atlanta Braves utility man, was amazed at the transformation at SunTrust Park, where his home ballpark has been turned a 15-story ski and snowboard run with 800 tons of artificial snow this weekend. More impressive, though, was the skill and acumen of so many daring athletes.
“These guys are incredible,” Culberson said Friday night. “I love the competition. The athleticism is amazing. I definitely envy what they’re doing.”
Corning, from Silverthorne, Colorado,, landed a quad cork with 1,800 degrees of rotation to become the first snowboarder to pull off the feat on a scaffold jump, scoring a 95.25 on the third and final run. He decided to try a quad instead of a triple when the jump began to harden after so much use during trials and competition.
“I feel great right now, very happy to be here, very happy to be alive after that,” Corning said. “It’s always scary trying it. I never do it in practice or anything like that. I pretty much let go of anything I’m thinking about and just go for it.
Culberson stuck around for the awards presentation to hand out gold, silver and bronze aluminum bats to the top three finishers in the men’s and women’s groups. It felt more appropriate than a standard medal.
Corning won gold, Canada’s
Nicolas Laframboise earned silver and Japan’s Ryoma Kimata got the bronze.
Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi won the women’s competition, followed by teammate Kokomo Murase and Canada’s Brooke Voigt.
Culberson’s teammate, pitcher Mike Foltynewicz, threw a ceremonial first snowball pitch from the approximate area of the mound toward snowcovered home plate, where Blooper, the Braves’ mascot, acted as catcher. Foltynewicz wasn’t done, though, as he began peppering Blooper with several more snowballs to get the festivities started for a crowd of 11,000-plus.
With 27 nations represented and over 160 athletes competing in men’s and women’s snowboard and ski competition, there was a lot to take in for Cameron Canto, who watched from the upper level. Canto lives practically onsite at the Battery, a retail development built around the ballpark.