Kaya Turski flies high over Aspen on
the way to winning X Games gold.
Sarah Burke earns her fourth X
Games gold after qualifying last.
CHRISTIAN PONDELLA/ESPN IMAGES; CHRISTIAN PONDELLA/ESPN IMAGES; MATT CLAUSEN/ESPN IMAGES
Women’s Slopestyle and Superpipe, Jan. 27
First up were the women slopestyle skiers. Canadian Kaya
Turski kept her crown for a second consecutive year, needing
only her first run of the three-run format to secure the win with
a 93.66-point score that held all day.
“I feel elated right now,” said Turski. “I put a lot of pressure on
myself. The level of competition here is so high; all the girls
killed it.”
Breckenridge’s Keri Herman took silver with a second run that
was only 0.33 points off Turski’s winning total. Salt Lake City’s
Grete Eliassen took home her second consecutive bronze
medal after spending most of her time this season working on
a movie. “It’s awesome to win again,” said Eliassen. “I spent
most of my season focusing on ‘Say My Name,’ so it is cool to
come back and progress after that.”
The 567-foot long, 22-foot deep superpipe saw its first action
that night as Whistler native Sarah Burke stepped up to her
fourth career X Games gold medal a year after a sixth-place
finish broke her three-year winning streak.
Burke’s second-run consisted of a 900, back-to-back flairs
and a 720 to add up to a 91.33-point score. “This comp was
very fun to watch,” said Burke, who collected her sixth career
X Games medal after sneaking into finals at the bottom of the
qualifying list. “Qualifiers were hard, but tonight I was relaxed
and having fun. My run felt really good, especially my 900. It
just clicked and I think that set me apart.”
Winter X Games rookie Brita Sigourney of Carmel, Calif., captured the silver medal with a top score of 86. Calgary’s Rosalind Groenewoud won her second consecutive bronze medal
with a score of 84.
Last year’s superpipe winner, Aspen’s own Jen Hudak, finished fifth with a score of 78.
