It’s only a couple of weeks left until the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony in Vancover. Then, a new chapter in history of sports is about to be written. So are all those little stories that will have a big impact on us.

Shaun White was supposed to be the absolute, unbeatable gold medal candidate in the discipline “Snowboard, Halfpipe”. And not without good reason – as one of his sponsors built a training facility one has never seen before. “Project X“ is a hidden halfpipe in the backcountry of Silverton, Colorado, only accessible by helicopter and equipped with the first ever snow/halfpipe foampit.

On Shaun’s website, the world could follow him learning and innovating new tricks and putting together an unprecedented run. But when „unbeatable Shaun“ showed up at the Grand Prix in Mammoth Mountain last week, the unexpected happened: Shaun White lost (he „only“ became second). Because 21 vear Danny Davis from Michigan managed to put down something that is viewed by many as the best run in snowboarding history. And all that without a private foampit.

Danny Davis -- Best halfpipe run ever?

Even though Danny is not qualified for the olympics, he arrestingly showed that Shaun White is beatable. So it will be depending on the little things, like style and innovation, to decide who takes the Olympic gold medal in 2010. Fortunately, it´s not always the big names to succeed. Sometimes things just come unexpected.

US olympic snowboard team:

Men:

Greg Bretz, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 19

Scotty Lago, Seabrook, NH, 22

Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 21

Shaun White, Carlsbad, CA, 23

Woman:

Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 28

Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 26

Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 20

Hannah Teter, Belmont, VT, 23

Kitzbühel, 27. January 2010

Nico Zacek

Tags
Danny Davis | Halfpipe | Nico Zacek | Olympics | Shaun White | Snowboard | Vancouver


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