Hight, Teter on podium in snowboard halfpipe at X Games
By Devon O’Neil, XGames.com
ASPEN — Ten years removed from her first Winter X Games gold medal, Kelly Clark reminded everyone Friday night why she will go down as the greatest snowboard halfpipe rider in history.
Clark, wearing a “Celebrate Sarah” sticker on her helmet in memory of late halfpipe skier Sarah Burke, posted both of the night’s highest scores (90.00 and 93.66) to defend her snowboard superpipe gold medal by another wide margin. She finished 10 points ahead of silver medalist Elena Hight of South Lake Tahoe and 17.66 points ahead of bronze medalist (and birthday girl) Hannah Teter of South Lake Tahoe. Just like last year, Clark’s ability to stick massive frontside 1080s separated her from the rest of the field and delivered her fourth career Winter X gold and ninth pipe medal in 13 appearances.
Clark, a three-time Olympian from Vermont, has now won 13 contests in a row. The last one she entered and failed to win was the December 2010 Winter Dew Tour at Breckenridge.
“I approach every contest, every run, every trick in that moment, one run at a time,” Clark, 28, said. “I’m coming out here to achieve my goals, not to win the contest, that’s just a byproduct. In my third run tonight, having the contest won, I still stepped up my run because that’s what’s motivating me. It’s incredible. I came off the best season I’ve ever had last year. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to keep going. I’m kind of in awe of my streak right now. But at the same time, I’m having fun and I think that’s the biggest component to my success.”
