Shaun White won his ninth X Games event last night (14 total medals) in a close Superpipe final over Kevin Pierce. Immediately there was talk about Shaun getting pushed, but ESPN blogger Tracy Anderson breaks it down pretty cleanly on his post titled White Gold.
White beats Pearce by one point. A 91.66 to Pearce’s 90.66. White becomes the first athlete in X Games history to win back-to-back pipe golds. The crowd goes crazy. End of story. . . Not so fast. Complaints began immediately. ESPN’s X Games announcer Todd Richards said on live TV he didn’t think White’s run deserved gold. Several pro snowboarders watching—standing next to me—said Pearce’s run looked better, bigger.
Anderson then includes the trick by trick breakdown and Shaun had one more hit and an extra spin. We’re reminded that controversy just makes better TV.
[Link: ESPN]
Interesting thoughts.
What’s a better run, more amplitude and (potentially) style or one more air and a spin, making the run technically more impressive.
I vote style, but most spins after 720 degrees just look ugly to me.
Comments on this entry are closed.