Watanabe at Telluride in 2009 | ||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's snowboarding | ||
Representing the United States | ||
Winter X Games | ||
2009 Aspen | Snowboard Cross |
Graham Watanabe (born March 19, 1982) is an American snowboarder who has competed since 1996. He won three events in snowboardcross between 2004 and 2009.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Watanabe finished 31st in the snowboard cross event. His best finish at the FIS Snowboard World Championships was sixth in the snowboard cross event at Gangwon in 2009.
It was announced on 26 January 2010, that Watanabe made the US team for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Although Watanabe did not qualify for the quarter-finals in Vancouver, he described his Olympic experience, when he said, "Try to imagine Pegasus mating with a unicorn and the creature that they birth; I somehow tame it and ride it into the sky in the clouds and sunshine and rainbows. That's what it feels like." [1]
He was a subject in an episode of BYU Television's The Generations Project documentary series in 2012. [2]
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games.
Ross Powers is an American world champion halfpipe snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist. Hailing from South Londonderry, Vermont, he is currently the director of the snowboarding program at the Stratton Mountain School in Stratton, Vermont.
Shaun Roger White is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder. He has also won 10 ESPY Awards throughout his career in various categories.
Torah Jane Bright is an Australian former professional snowboarder. She is Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, former Olympic gold and silver medalist, two time X Games gold medalist, three time US Open winner, two time Global Open Champion, three time World Superpipe Champion, former TTR World Champion and recipient of the Best Female Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY awards. In 2014 Bright became the first Olympic athlete to qualify for all three snowboarding disciplines; halfpipe, slopestyle and boarder-cross.
Hannah Teter is an American snowboarder. She is an Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy and silver at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. She has also won bronze at the 2005 FIS World Championships at Whistler, British Columbia, and has a total of six World Cup victories in her career. In January 2010, Teter was named to the US Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She won the silver medal in women's halfpipe at the Vancouver Games. Teter came in fourth at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Maëlle Danica Ricker is a Canadian retired snowboarder, who specialised in snowboard cross. She won an Olympic gold medal in the snowboard cross event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, to become the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal on home soil at the Olympics. She is also the 2013 World Champion and two-time Winter X Games Champion.
Seth Wescott is an American snowboarder. He is a two-time Olympic champion in the snowboard cross.
Jasey-Jay Anderson is a Canadian snowboarder and Olympic gold medallist, who competed in the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, Winter Olympics. Anderson currently resides in Mont-Tremblant outside of Montreal.
Louis Philip "Louie" Vito III is an Italian-American professional snowboarder. He is an Olympian, Winter X Games, and U.S. Grand Prix Champion.
Zoe Gillings-Brier is a Manx and British snowboarder. She won seven medals at the FIS World Cup including one gold. Gillings competed at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and the 2018 Winter Olympics making her the only British snowboarder to compete in 4 Olympics.
Nate Holland is an American snowboarder.
Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, drops, steep and flat sections designed to challenge the riders' ability to stay in control while maintaining maximum speed. It is not uncommon for racers to collide with each other mid-race.
Nick Baumgartner is an American snowboarder from Iron River, Michigan. He competes in snowboard cross (SBX) and qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He won the gold and silver medals in the 2011 and 2012 Winter X Games. Baumgartner competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics and won his first Olympic gold at the age of 40 in the 2022 Winter Olympics when he and teammate Lindsey Jacobellis won the inaugural Olympic mixed snowboard cross race.
Lluís Marín Tarroch is an Andorran snowboarder. He competed for Andorra in snowboard cross at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Winter Olympics. Marin was Andorra's flag bearer during the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. In 2010, Tarroch failed to qualify for the head-to-head rounds of his event after falling in one of his runs and ended up in 34th place.
Alex Pullin, nicknamed Chumpy, was an Australian snowboarder who competed at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. He was a two-time snowboard cross (boardercross) world champion.
Sage Kotsenburg is an American snowboarder. He won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in men's snowboard slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and became the first gold medalist at these Olympics. Kotsenburg won a silver medal in snowboard slopestyle at the 2012 Winter X Games XVI in Aspen, Colorado, behind Mark McMorris. Kotsenburg won a bronze medal in Snowboard Big Air at the 2011 Winter X Games XV in Aspen, Colorado, behind Torstein Horgmo and Sebastien Toutant.
Mark Lee McMorris is a Canadian professional snowboarder who specializes in slopestyle and big air events. A three-time Olympic bronze medallist, he placed third in each of the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2018 Winter Olympics, and 2022 Winter Olympics in the slopestyle event. While filming for Transworld Snowboarding's "Park Sessions" video in March 2011, Mark became the first person to land a Backside Triple Cork 1440. More recently, on April 28, 2018, Mark landed the world's first Double Cork off a rail, the Front-Board Double Cork 1170, with a melancholy grab. Mark has also left his mark at X-Games and other events. In 2012 and 2013, Mark won back-to-back gold medals in Winter X Games in the slopestyle event. In 2023 he defended his Winter X Games gold medal in the men's slopestyle to set a record for the most Winter X Games medals with 22.
Stephanie Hickey is an Australian snowboard slalom and snowboard cross competitor, who has worked as a presenter and MC for winter sport and surf events. Her competitive snowboarding career started when she was fifteen years old. She competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in snowboard cross, finishing in eighteenth place, failing by two positions to qualify for the event finals. Stephanie is the older sister to Annabelle Hickey, who similarly, is an accredited instructor and talented snowboarder.
Arielle Townsend Gold is an American Olympic medalist snowboarder.
Billy Morgan is an English snowboarder, who won a big air Bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea