X Games: Holland, Jacobellis win board cross gold

ASPEN, Colo. (Jan. 30) –  American snowboarders Nate Holland Lindsey Jacobellis gave the world an Olympic preview as they grabbed X Games gold medals in boarder cross event today at Buttermilk.

Holland proved he is the undisputed owner of the Aspen cross course as he fought off U.S. Olympic Snowboarding teammate Seth Wescott for his fifth consecutive X Games gold medal in a back-and-forth battle. Wescott finished second ahead of Italian Alberto Schiavon in third. Jayson Hale and Nick Baumbartner also made the final, finishing fourth and sixth.

“It is pretty surreal to win big again like this, especially with this caliber of riders,” Holland said. “To win gold once, I remember how fired up I was. So to do it five times I don’t know what to say. Wescott gave me a heck of a battle; the best battle I had all day.”

Wescott, a six-time X Games medalist, just missed his first snowboard cross gold in a final run for the history books.

“Out of the gate and after that crash in the semifinals I was just trying to stay on my feet,” said Westcott. “This ended up being some of the best racing I have been a part of and one of the best heats that I have ever had.”

Jacobellis, also a five time winner here, put the world on notice with a stellar run down the challenging Aspen cross course for her third consecutive X Games gold. The Olympic silver medalist outlasted Norwegian second-place finisher Helene Olafsen and Lake Tahoe’s Joanie Anderson in third.

“It’s nice to do well at X Games,” said Jacobellis, who successfully navigated the 3,500-foot course full of tabletop jumps, banked turns, rollers and gaps. “I seem to always have strong crowd support here.  So it is great to win for them.”

Minutes after the boarder cross action wrapped up, Breckenridge, Colo. native Bobby Brown earned his second X Games gold medal in as many days in the men’s slopestyle event.

“Last night when I won Big Air I was freaking out,” an excited Brown said.  “Now I am freaking out twice as much. Last year I was an alternate and this year I came in with a lot more confidence.”

Norwegian skier Andreas Hatveit claimed second ahead of Hood River, Oregon’s Sammy Carlson in third.

The world’s best snowboard cross athletes will go for Olympic gold Feb. 15 and 16 at Cypress Mountain.

For a complete list of this weekend’s competition and TV schedule click here.

Look for more  in-depth X-Games coverage, images and video in the next digital issue of Ski Racing.

Snowboarder X Men’s Final
Final Results from Aspen/Snowmass on Saturday, January 30,
2010
 

           Name
                         Bib
#               Hometown
                            Time
                          
Final:

1.         Nate Holland
                723
                  Squaw
Valley, Calif.
                 1:31.942
2.         Seth Wescott
               791
                  Sugarloaf,
Maine
                      1:32.510
3.         Alberto Schiavon
          725
                  Madonna
Di Campiglio, Italy      1:32.529
4.         Jayson Hale
                 717
                  Sierraville,
Calif.
                       1:36.675
5.         JJ Tomlinson
               719
                  Park
City, Utah
                         1:42.662
6.         Nick Baumgartner
         709
                  Iron
River, Mich                         1:45.771
 
Consolation:

7.         Graham Watanabe
        788
                  Hailey,
Idaho                             1:32.395
8.         Drew Neilson
                712
                  North
Vancouver, BC, Canada    1:32.658
9.         Ross Powers
               707
                  Londonderry,
Vt.
                      1:33.732
10.        Mario Fuchs
                 705
                  Saalbach-Hinterglemm,
Austria   1:37.339
11.        David Speiser
              720
                  Oberstdorf,
Germany
                5:00.000

Snowboarder X Women’s Final
Final Results from Aspen/Snowmass on Saturday, January 30,
2010
 

           Name
                         Bib
#
              Hometown
                                        Time
Final:
                       
1.
        Lindsey Jacobellis
        740
                  Stratton,
Vt.                                          1:38.145
2.         Helene Olafsen
             730
                  Oppegard,
Norway
                               1:38.664
3.         Joanie Anderson
          727
                  South
Lake Tahoe, Calif.
                       1:43.018
4.         Maria Ramberger
          742
                  Klosterneuburg,
Austria                         1:44.156
5.         Alexandra Jekova
         729
                  Sofia,
Bulgaria                                      1:44.509
6.         Emilie Aubry
                794
                  Ipsach,
Switzerland
                               1:45.394
 
Consolation:

7.         Faye Gulini
                   736
                  Salt
Lake City, Utah
                              1:44.702
8.         Callan Chythlook-Sifsof 735
                  Girdwood,
Alaksa
                                 1:46.207
9.         Marni Yamada
              737
                  Seattle,
Wash.
                                      1:49.688
10.        Suzie Moll
                    790
                  Andelsbuch,
Austria
                             156.018
11.        Ziggy Cowan
                176
                  Banff,
AB, Canada
                               156.206
12.        Kayla Klaus
                  178
                  Red
Deer, AB, Canada
                         2:20.129

Skiing Slopestyle Men’s Final
Results from Aspen/Snowmass on Saturday, January 30, 2010
 

           Name
                         Bib
#               Hometown
                            Score
             
1.
        Bobby Brown
               592
                  Breckenridge,
Colo.
                  94.33
2.         Andeas Hatveit
             560
                  Sudndalen,
Norway
                  92.00
3.         Sammy Carlson
            574
                  Hood
River, Ore.                       89.33
4.         Phil Casabon
               595
                  Shawinigan,
QC, Canada           88.66
5.         Russ Henshaw
             540
                  Jindabyne,
Australia
                 83.66
6.         Matt Walker
                  563
                  Aspen,
Colo.
                            83.00
7.         Jossi Wells
                  513
                  Wanaka,
New Zealand
               77.66
8.         Tom Wallisch
               517
                  Pittsburgh,
Pa.
                         72.33