United States snowboarders made Olympic history Monday, recording the first sweep in the men’s halfpipe, a feat that cements snowboarding’s future and is further evidence that America is emerging as a winter sports power.
Ross Powers, 23, of South Londonberry, Vt., won the gold medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics with a ride featuring spectacular twists and spins accompanied by huge chunks of hang time while soaring 15 feet above the lip of the halfpipe–what riders call “big air.”
Danny Kass, 19, of Hamburg, N.J., perhaps the most inventive halfpipe rider in the world, took the silver. Jarret “J.J.” Thomas, 20, of Golden, Colo, got the bronze.
Afterward, in an emotional reference to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Powers said: “After everything that’s happened to us in the States, it’s huge. To sweep it here, in our country, it’s awesome.”
The last time the U.S. swept an event in the Winter Games was 1956, when the men’s figure skating team, led by Hayes Jenkins, did it in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The U.S. now has six medals after three days of competition. Officials with the U.S. Olympic team predicted Americans would win at least 20.
The most medals Americans have won in a Winter Games is 13 in 1998 at Nagano, Japan, and in 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway.
About a dozen years ago U.S. Olympic officials embarked on a multimillion-dollar program to boost American medal results at the Winter Games–the U.S. was already traditionally strong in the Summer Games–and said they expected the program to start paying off in 2002.
The medal sweep by the American men–in concert with a gold won Sunday in the women’s halfpipe by American Kelly Clark–has given snowboarding a boost of widespread publicity and reinforced the belief of those who have said it will become one of the glamor events of the Winter Olympics.
A capacity crowd of 16,500 packed Park City Mountain Resort for both the women’s and the men’s contests. The audience cheered loudly and warmly for athletes from all nations. “The crowd was just amazing,” Kass said.
The results guarantee “mainstream exposure to what’s been going on in snowboarding for a long time,” said Jake Burton, one of the sport’s pioneers.
All three medal winners contradict the stereotype of snowboarders as dope-smoking slackers.
That image can be traced in part to the 1998 Winter Games, when Ross Regabliati of Canada tested positive for marijuana after winning gold in snowboarding slalom racing. He ultimately got to keep the medal, officials ruling there were no grounds to take it away, but the incident lent credibility to the sport’s image.
Kass came into the event as the clear favorite. He won all of last season’s major snowboarding events–the U.S. Open, Grand Prix and X Games.
Judges score for tricks and another category, one that is said to be most critical at the Olympics–and where Kass lagged Monday–“big air.” It means getting 12 or 15 feet up over the halfpipe lip while doing tricks.
On his first run in the finals, Powers got an 8.6 for air, Kass a 7.8. On the second run–riders ride twice and keep the better of the two overall scores–Powers got a 9.4, Kass a 6.6. “Probably the biggest airs I’ve ever done,” Powers said.
Powers’ winning run was his first, when he neatly executed a series of tricks that included a McTwist, an upside-down aerial that includes a 540-degree flip, and two 720-degree spins. Then he had to wait to see if his score would hold up.
“I didn’t think it was going to stand,” he said.
