The U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team is starting to take shape as Shaun White and many of his fellow snowboarders have finally been chosen to represent the U.S. in this year's Sochi Winter Olympic Games! At Mammoth Mountain in California over the past two days, after a grueling five event qualifying series, thirteen snowboarders were announced as official members of the 2014 U.S. Snowboarding team.It was at the conclusion of yesterday's Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix that landed the lucky thirteen athletes the coveted spots as members of the Olympic Team.
And, as the unparalleled snowboard and
ski shop in NH, everyone here at Ken Jones Ski Mart are absolutely enthralled to bring this urgent news to all of our friends.The U.S. snowboard team can bring a total of 23 riders to Sochi this year and thirteen have already been chosen. The full list of snowboarders being brought to this year's Olympic Games will be announced next week on January 27th. Don't worry, we'll keep you posted.
So, for the Men's Halfpipe, Greg Bretz, Danny Davis, Taylor Gold, and Shaun White have solidified their spots on the Olympic Team. For the Women's Halfpipe, Kelly Clark, Kaitlyn Farrington, Arielle Gold, and Hannah Teter will be competing in the Olympic Games. And, for the new Slopesyle event (first time in Olympic history), in the Men's division, Sage Kotsenburg, Chas Guldermond, and Shaun White qualified. And competing in the Women's Slopestyle event, Jamie Anderson and Ty Walker will be representing the U.S. this February in Sochi, Russia.
For Shaun White, this shot at a third gold medal could mean that he'll be the first snowboarder in Olympic history to have taken home the gold in the Halfpipe event three times in a row. He won gold medals in both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic games and, if he performs the way he did in yesterday's qualifying runs, he should clench the gold for a third time. Considered the hardest trick done in competition right now, White nailed a frontside double-cork 1440 yesterday; a trick that includes two flips and four full rotations.
And White is just as excited as the rest of us about the addition of the slopestyle competition. He says that it's pushed him to practice and train harder. In an interview with
ABC News, White said, "This has been the craziest journey to get here from doing slope and pipe and just like the process I'm going through. It's a tough thing. I love that about this time around, it's not the same. It stays exciting. If it was just halfpipe, maybe I would have procrastinated (in preparation)."
And remember, the official gear of the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team is Burton Snowboards. So come to our ski shop in Manchester, NH to find the boards and gear that the all the Olympians will be using!
