Yater-Wallace Gold in Tignes
TIGNES, France (March 22) - In a repeat of X Games Tignes 2012, Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, CO) took the gold medal and left silver for David Wise (Reno, NV). Yater-Wallace’s smooth, versatile bag of tricks won out to Wise’s slightly less clean, but technical run. Women's halfpipe finals followed and Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, CA) won bronze, her first medal at X Games Tignes. Marie Martinod-Routin from France took the gold in the women’s final.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, CO) took the gold medal and left silver for David Wise (Reno, NV) at X Games Tignes on Friday.
- It was the second year in a row that Yater-Wallace and Wise went gold and silver at X Games Tignes.
- Yater-Wallace’s delivered smooth and progressive tricks, including a down-the-pipe double flatspin 900 as his final trick.
- Wise had the most technical run in the game, but couldn't nail it clean enough to overtake Yater-Wallace.
- Wise stays in the lead in the AFP stadings with Torin Yater-Wallace a close second.
- In the women's halfpipe final, Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, CA) won bronze, her first medal at X Games Tignes.
- She was fifth until her final run put her into third at the very end of the contest.
- Pushing the limits of her sport, Bowman spun both a left and right 900 in her run, but she her missed grabs.
- Only 1.33 points separated the top three finishing women at the end of the tight competition.
- It was her last contest of the season and the best run of her career to date.
- Rookie U.S. Snowboarding teammate Annalisa Drew (Andover, MA) qualified for the final but ended up in eighth place.
- Marie Martinod-Routin from France took the gold in the women’s final.
- Yater-Wallace’s run: Right double 1260, left 1080, switch right 720, alley-oop double flat 900, down pipe double flat 900.
- Wise’s run: Switch right 900, switch left double 1080, right double cork 1260, left double cork 1260, ally-oop flat 540.
- Bowman’s run: Right 900, left 540 short mute, left cork 900, right 720, switch right 540.
QUOTES
Torin Yater-Wallace
My legs are shaking. I knew I needed to clean up my run after my first two. It was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life watching David and Kevin. I'm so happy and I had so much fun.
It's great to be up here again and especially with David and Kevin. It's always a tight race to the podium. Watching from the bottom I was so nervous that Kevin was going to take it! David and I are always neck and neck and we're having fun with it. I've been battling a cold and had an awesome, but busy winter and this is a great way to wind things down. I had a great time tonight. The pipe was fun. The U.S. has had so many podiums this season and we are so lucky to have all the resources that we do, our team, amazing 22ft halfpipes and teammates to push and encourage us.
David Wise
It's as always an honor to be up here, I would have loved to win and had a repeat, but I had some of the worst training of my life before the finals tonight. I decked twice, so I am sore and was glad to land my runs during finals tonight. The pipe had changed a bit and it worked to my disadvantage. I wasn't able to ski to my absolute best. I am happy with my second place finish and am looking forward to what the future will bring with Sochi next year.
Maddie Bowman
It was the best run of my life. Ben and Andy, my coaches, said so too. It feels really good to have that run especially coming back after falling in Sochi and having a hard time in Voss. I feel like I just had a bit of a mental breakdown. It's been a long season, and I got it turned around. I'm really happy to know that I can overcome that mental part of the game too. It's a great end of my season and I cannot wait to go home.
