Over the last decade, snowboard has gained massive amounts of popularity, which also created the first this sport stars. Read the article to find out more about the biggest heroes of snowboarding.
Over the last
decade, snowboarding has gained massive amounts of popularity. Known in its
earlier days as an extreme winter sport, snowboarding made its debut at the
Winter X Games in 1997. Since that time it has become an annual event and
seemingly more extreme, when young men and women from around the world compete
for medals, bragging rights, and potentially lucrative sponsorships as well.
The best snowboarding competitions of all time have taken place over the last
five years, not only at the Winter X Games, but on the world stage at the
Winter Olympics.
The name “Shaun White” and the term “snowboarding” are usually part of the same
sentence. Also known as “The Flying Tomato,” White has captured more medals
than any other snowboarder to date, and can be seen in many a snowboarding
photo and snowboard videos. In 2006 at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, he
went up against 40 entrants altogether, and by the end of the day he made it to
the final run, along with Danny Kass, Markku Koski, and Mason Aguirre.
Following an intense battle of sheer determination, White ended up with the top
score; Kass took the silver and Koski edged out Aguirre for the bronze.
Female snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics had their own battles to
contend with. Deemed as one of the most memorable races of the entire
competition, the Women’s Snowboard Cross unfolded in exciting fashion, and
ended with a frustrating twist. During the gold medal run, Lindsey Jacobellis
had a comfortable lead over Tanja Frieden, with about 100 meters to go. Coming
over the last jump before the finish line, Jacobellis went for the “method
grab,” a maneuver that landed her in second place. She ended up falling just
short of finish line while Frieden jumped ahead; by fractions of a second, the
race was decided.
Four years later in Vancouver, British Columbia, snowboarding once again
managed to grab the spotlight. The Super-pipe event at the 2010 Winter Olympics
on Cypress Mountain took center stage. Four competitors vied for position until
the second-to-last run: Iouri Podladtchikov, Shaun White, Scott Lago, and Peetu
Piiroinen. Piiroinen presented the biggest threat, but Shaun White stole the
show with a 1080 grab and locked up the gold. His last run involved the highest
degree of difficulty, pulling off a 1260 grab Double McTwist, making it the
most notable of all.
Also, let's not forget about Torah Bright on the female side, who became of the most recognisable snowboadring riders of the last 4 years.
