Anderson, Kim and Corning punch their tickets
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. – As much as the freeskiers and snowboarders wanted this to be like any other Dew Tour, they knew it couldn’t. It’s an Olympic year, and this event helps determine who will make the U.S. team for Pyeongchang.
So over four days of competition at Breckenridge Ski Resort, they pushed their riding, attempted tricks they might have done only a handful of times and, in a few cases, locked up their spots on the team.
“I think everyone is just hungry to do their best. And it kind of is such a big stage to progress that, a lot of these events that happen every year, you kind of can redeem yourself where the Olympics is you may only get to go to a couple if you’re lucky in your whole career,” snowboarder Jamie Anderson said. “I think that’s what inspires everyone to work harder on their rail tricks, their double corks or whatever it may be and just ride their best overall.”
With the qualifying process past the halfway point for most events, here’s a look at the implications from the competitions here.
Who’s in?
Three athletes locked up their spots for Pyeongchang.
Anderson, the Sochi gold medalist, finished second to Canadian Spencer O’Brien to make her the top American. Combined with a win in the first qualifying event in the U.S. Grand Prix in February, she’s in.
Just as expected was halfpipe snowboarder Chloe Kim punching her ticket. The 17-year-old has dominated the sport over the last few years, and her Dew Tour gold was her second win in two weeks.
And 18-year-old Chris Corning earned his first Olympic berth despite dealing with a back bruise he suffered last week. He was second overall and the top-ranked American in that big air event, and he finished second in slopestyle behind Canadian Maxence Parrot on Saturday.
“I kind of had been around for a little bit, just chipping away, and then last year everything kind of clicked and my runs started to be good enough to get my name recognized,” Corning said. “So being able to put runs down that were big enough has been really good, and it’s been kind of a confidence booster.”
Who improved their chances?
Perhaps no one got a bigger boost than Jake Pates, a 19-year-old snowboarder who landed a backside double McTwist 1260 to take the men’s halfpipe competition in the first major win of his career.
It was only the fourth time he’d tried the trick, one which only a handful of riders — including Olympic gold medalists Shaun White and Iouri Podladtchikov — can do.
Pates isn’t mathematically in yet, but he’s in better shape. So is Ben Ferguson, whose third-place finish in that event followed a second last week when he was the top American at Copper Mountain.
On the women’s side, three-time Olympic medalist Kelly Clark is in good shape to make the team. She has two podium finishes: third last week and second in the Dew Tour on Friday.
Where is qualifying toughest?
For the USA, the field is deepest in men’s snowboard halfpipe or men’s freeski slopestyle.
In the latter, Sochi silver medalist Gus Kenworthy finished sixth and Sochi Olympian Bobby Brown was eighth after injuring his ankle. Olympic gold medalist Joss Christensen tore his ACL in May and returned to ski last month, so he didn’t compete. Young skiers such as Alex Hall and Cody LaPlante are also in the mix.
In the halfpipe, Danny Davis and
Greg Bretz are trying to return to the Olympics, while Chase Josey and Gabe Ferguson are trying to make their first team.
And White didn’t make the final after falling on his two runs.
“In the grand scheme of things, I would have loved to have made finals and locked up my spot on the team,” White said. “But I got the excitement, and I don’t know if you call it the fear in me still of now I’m hungry to make the team.”
What’s ahead?
Athletes resume qualifying contests with the U.S. Grand Prix on Jan. 10-14 in Snowmass, Colo. They’ll conclude qualifying Jan. 17-21 at Mammoth Mountain, Calif.