{"id":14861,"date":"2010-03-20T15:50:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-20T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=14861"},"modified":"2010-03-28T08:21:20","modified_gmt":"2010-03-28T15:21:20","slug":"clark-kazuhiro-win-us-open-halfpipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=14861","title":{"rendered":"Clark & Kazuhiro Win US Open Halfpipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kazuhiro<\/a>
\nKazuhiro Kokubo miles out. Photos: Shem Roose
\n<\/em>
\nFirst off, Shaun White<\/strong> did not compete in the 28th US Open Halfpipe today. Crazy, we know. There were varying reports. Snowboard Canada tweeted that “he was exhausted.” And we’re not going to argue. We’re exhausted just from watching the grueling media marathon Shaun has been on since winning his second Olympic gold medal, and we did it all from the couch. <\/p>\n

While it would have been nice if he had taken a little rest a week ago so we could have watched him ride Stratton, whatever Shaun wants to do now is fine with us. Go, to it. Write a book. Read some poetry. Snowboarding will still be here when you get back.<\/p>\n

Secondly, three runs in a halfpipe final is silly. Two runs is enough to sort out the champions. As usual, there were really no significant place changes in that third run. Kelly Clark<\/strong> nailed her 94.7 in the first run and Kazuhiro Kokubo<\/strong> got his 97.17 in the second run when he stole the lead away from Louie Vito.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/a>We often feel that something is lost in translation, but Kazu is always a gracious winner. \u201cIt was so great to win here, especially because my good friends Mikkel Bang<\/strong> and Charles Reid<\/strong> also won titles, which made my win feel even better,\u201d said Kazuhiro Kokubo.<\/p>\n

Kelly Clark has won the Open so many times her quotes are nearly canned. “\u201cIt\u2019s amazing that it\u2019s my fourth US Open halfpipe title,\u201d said Kelly Clark. \u201cIt\u2019s so great to come home after such a long season and win here.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the rest of the story, including results, follow the jump.
\nKazuhiro Kokubo & Kelly Clark Win 2010 Burton US Open Halfpipe Titles<\/p>\n

Stratton Mountain, VT (March 20, 2010) Kazuhiro Kokubo (JPN) and Kelly Clark (USA) won today\u2019s US Open halfpipe finals, where thousands of fans enjoyed some of the most progressive riding in halfpipe history. Today\u2019s win marked a historic moment for Kelly Clark, who is now the only woman in US Open history to win four halfpipe titles. Kazu\u2019s win was also a landmark as it was his first time winning a US Open title.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so great to win here, especially because my good friends Mikkel Bang and Charles Reid also won titles, which made my win feel even better,\u201d said Kazuhiro Kokubo.<\/p>\n

In addition to the coveted US Open halfpipe crowns, three major titles were also awarded today, including a new Volvo to top US Open male and female overall riders Ulrik Badertscher (NOR) and Jamie Anderson (USA). Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) was on the podium for three different awards, taking home a total of $103,250 in winnings today alone. He won the $3000 Kodak Best Trick award for his Cab 1080 double cork, the $50,000 men\u2019s Burton Global Open Series (BGOS) title, the $50,000 men\u2019s Swatch TTR World Tour Championship title, plus $250 for his 12th place halfpipe finish. Fellow Finnish rider Enni Rukaj\u00e4rvi (FIN) won the women\u2019s 2010 BGOS championship title and a $50,000 check. And for the first time, second and third place BGOS ranked riders took home $30,000 and $20,000 respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so special and overwhelming \u2013 I\u2019m the first guy who has won both the BGOS and TTR titles twice,\u201d said 2010 Olympic silver medalist Peetu Piiroinen. \u201cI\u2019ve had an incredible season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s halfpipe contest was dominated by the Americans, who swept the podium. Kelly Clark secured her fourth US Open halfpipe title with her first run, earning an unbeatable 94.17 with her signature style and huge airs. Her run started with a huge frontside air, a backside 540 mute grab, a frontside 720, and a Cab 720 mute, finishing with a frontside corked 900, which also earned her the $3,000 Totino\u2019s Highest Air Award. Coming in second place was Kaitlyn Farrington (USA) with a strong run that included back-to-back 720s. Ellery Hollingsworth (USA) rounded out the women\u2019s halfpipe podium with her third place finish and also earned the Kodak Best Trick for her Michalchuk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing that it\u2019s my fourth US Open halfpipe title,\u201d said Kelly Clark. \u201cIt\u2019s so great to come home after such a long season and win here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Double corks were the trick of the day in the men\u2019s halfpipe competition, with podium winners throwing down double corks in every run. First Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) stepped it up with a mind-blowing run that included a backside 1260 double cork in the middle of his run. Then Louie Vito (USA) topped Iouri by nailing three double corks in his first run, taking the lead by a mere fraction of a point. But it was Kazuhiro Kokubo\u2019s signature smooth style that put him on the top spot of the US Open halfpipe podium for the first time, with a run that included a frontside 900 melon, his crowd-favorite McTwist Chicken Wing trick followed by three 1080s. 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Scotty Lago (USA) won the Totino\u2019s Highest Air award.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow, the juniors take to the adult-sized halfpipe where boys and girls 13-years-old and under will compete in the US Open Junior Jam.<\/p>\n

RANK\tCOMPETITOR\tNATION
\n1\tKelly Clark\tUSA
\n2\tKaitlyn Farrington\tUSA
\n3\tEllery Hollingsworth\tUSA
\n4\tHannah Teter\tUSA
\n5\tRana Okada\tJPN
\n6\tElena Hight\tUSA
\n7\tKelly Marren\tUSA
\n8\tMadeline Schaffrick\tUSA<\/p>\n

RANK\tCOMPETITOR\tRUN 1\tRUN 2\tRUN 3
\n1\tKokubo Kazuhiro\t95.33\t97.17\t79
\n2\tVito Louie\t96.17\t86.5\t94.33
\n3\tPodladtchikov Iouri\t96\t94.67\t40.33
\n4\tMalin Markus\t93.83\t62.33\t50.33
\n5\tKorpi Janne\t91.83\t43.17\t43.67
\n6\tLago Scotty\t90.17\t13.17\t29.33
\n7\tHolvik Tore\t86.17\t40.17\t38.67
\n8\tHaller Christian\t68.83\t28.17\t76.33
\n9\tPietropoli Manuel\t75.17\t34.83\t66.5
\n10\tBaker Ross\t49.17\t36.5\t72.67
\n11\tEsser Brett\t69.33\t20.5\t19.67
\n12\tPiiroinen Peetu\t47.33\t68.33\t66.17
\n13\tWatts Ben\t22.33\t61.17\t40
\n14\tMitrani Luke\t14.5\t57.17\t31
\n15\tPike Scotty\t33.33\t55.67\t20
\n16\tLadley Matt\t24.67\t22.67\t55.5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kazuhiro Kokubo miles out. Photos: Shem Roose First off, Shaun White did not compete in the 28th US Open Halfpipe today. Crazy, we know. There were varying reports. Snowboard Canada tweeted that “he was exhausted.” And we’re not going to argue. We’re exhausted just from watching the grueling media marathon Shaun has been on since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14861"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14861"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15055,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14861\/revisions\/15055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}