| Winter X Games XII (Winter X Games Twelve) | |
|---|---|
| Location |  Aspen, Colorado |
| Dates | January 24–27 |
Winter X Games XII were held from January 24 to January 27, 2008, in Aspen, Colorado. They were the 7th consecutive Winter X Games to be held in Aspen. Television coverage of Winter X Games XII was broadcast on ESPN and ABC, primarily hosted by Sal Masekela and Todd Harris. Final attendance for the four-day event was 72,500. [1]
Disciplines at the 12th Winter X Games were:
Skier Tanner Hall won his third consecutive men's superpipe gold medal and his seventh X Games gold medal over all, the most of any winter competitor. [2] This record stood alone until the final night of competition, when Shaun White tied it with a gold medal in the men's snowboard superpipe and set his own record with 12 career Winter X Games medals. [3]
Snowmobile Speed and Style was debuted as a new event on the opening night of competition, combining traditional snocross, a timed race, with trick skill. [4] The event was judged, with completion time and freestyle each making up half of the final score. [5] Levi LaVallee won gold. [6] Tucker Hibbert won his third gold medal in Snocross and his second consecutive. LaVallee's subsequent gold medal win in the snowmobile freestyle made him only the second Winter X Games competitor to win a gold medal in four different events, after Shaun Palmer.
In women's snowboarding, Lindsay Jacobellis regained the gold medal, her fourth, in Women's Snowboard Cross, defeating Swiss boarder Tanja Frieden. Frieden defeated Jacobellis at the 2006 Winter Olympics after Jacobellis fell near the finish line after attempting a trick. [7] Aspen native Gretchen Bleiler won the women's superpipe, defeating the Australian Torah Bright. [8]
Big Air events returned to the Winter X Games for the first time in several competitions. [9] There were only four participants in both the skiing and snowboarding big air events. [10] The events were done in a knockout format, with two judges voting and the audience, voting through text messaging, each having equal say as to who advanced to the finals and who won. [11] There were only gold medals awarded for the Big Air events, as they were judged as winner take all competition.
On the final day of competition, the weather deteriorated throughout the day The weather likely affected the turnout, with around 4,000 fewer spectators than Winter X Games XI. [3] The ski cross course was affected by weather conditions as the day went on, and there were several major crashes involving top competitors. Lars Lewen, Juha Haukkala, and Karin Huttary all had to be taken to the hospital following injuries; Enak Gavaggio was involved in the same crash as Lewen, but refused transport. [3] American Daron Rahlves, a three time Olympian, won the gold in the men's event, his first X Games medal. Errol Kerr, who had the fastest time of the day in any heat, did not medal. Sarah Burke defended her gold medal in the women's ski superpipe competition, defeating Swiss [12] ex-snowboarder Mirjam Jaeger. [13]
Men's Monoski Cross [14]
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Kees-Jan van der Klooster | 117.77 |
| Silver | Tyler Walker | 121.52 |
| Bronze | Chris Devlin-Young | 161.61 |
Men's Ski Big Air [11]
| Place | Athlete | Semifinal Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Jon Olsson | |
| Runner-up | Charles Gagnier | 3-0 |
Men's Ski Cross [15]
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Daron Rahlves | 86.05 |
| Silver | Stanley Hayer | 86.27 |
| Bronze | Casey Puckett | 86.61 |
Women's Ski Cross [16]
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Ophelie David | 92.19 |
| Silver | Hedda Berntsen | 92.70 |
| Bronze | Magdalena Jonsson | 93.56 |
Men's Ski Slopestyle [17]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Andreas Håtveit | 94.00 |
| Silver | Jossi Wells | 90.00 |
| Bronze | Jon Olsson | 87.00 |
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Tanner Hall | 92.33 |
| Silver | Simon Dumont | 91.00 |
| Bronze | Colby James West | 85.00 |
Women's Ski SuperPipe [19]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Sarah Burke | 92.00 |
| Silver | Mirjam Jaeger | 81.33 |
| Bronze | Jen Hudak | 78.33 |
Men's Snowboard Big Air [20]
| Place | Athlete | Semifinal Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Torstein Horgmo | 2-1 |
| Runner-up | Kevin Pearce | 3-0 |
Men's Snowboard Cross [21]
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Nate Holland | 93.48 |
| Silver | Markus Schairer | 93.81 |
| Bronze | David Speiser | 95.80 |
Women's Snowboard Cross [22]
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Lindsey Jacobellis | 102.00 |
| Silver | Tanja Frieden | 102.67 |
| Bronze | Sandra Frei | 104.33 |
Men's Snowboard Slopestyle [23]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Andreas Wiig | 92.00 |
| Silver | Kevin Pearce | 88.33 |
| Bronze | Shaun White | 83.33 |
Women's Snowboard Slopestyle [24]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Jamie Anderson | 90.66 |
| Silver | Claudia Fliri | 86.33 |
| Bronze | Spencer O'Brien | 80.00 |
Men's Snowboard SuperPipe [25]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Shaun White | 96.66 |
| Silver | Ryo Aono | 88.00 |
| Bronze | Kevin Pearce | 85.66 |
Women's Snowboard SuperPipe [26]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Gretchen Bleiler | 93.33 |
| Silver | Torah Bright | 92.66 |
| Bronze | Kelly Clark | 90.00 |
Snocross [27]
| Place | Athlete |
|---|---|
| Gold | Tucker Hibbert |
| Silver | Brett Turcotte |
| Bronze | D.J. Eckstrom |
Snowmobile Freestyle [28]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Levi LaVallee | 87.66 |
| Silver | Joe Parsons | 87.33 |
| Bronze | Heath Frisby | 92.33 (in consolation) |
Snowmobile Speed and Style [29]
| Place | Athlete | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Levi LaVallee | 91.00 |
| Silver | Sam Rogers | 82.07 |
| Bronze | Joe Parsons | 92.33 (in consolation) |
The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. which air on the ESPN family of networks including ABC. The events are mainly held in the United States, with disciplines such as skateboarding, BMX, motocross, skiing and snowboarding. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, as well as prize money. Concurrent with competition is the "X Fest" sports and music festival, which offers live music, athlete autograph sessions, and interactive elements.
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.
Gretchen ElisabethBleiler is an American former professional halfpipe snowboarder. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics.
Kristi Leskinen is an American freestyle skier. At Winter X Games IX, Leskinen won a bronze medal in the Women's Superpipe. Kristi Leskinen was the first woman to ever pull off a rodeo 720—two rotations with her head pointed towards the earth. She was named one of the Twenty Greatest Adventure Sport Athletes of today by Faces Magazine in fall of 2005. She appeared on the cover of Powder magazine's Photo Annual in 2004.
Torah Jane Bright is an Australian 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.
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Half-pipe skiing is the sport of riding snow skis on a half-pipe. Competitors perform a series of tricks while going down the pipe. The current world record for highest jump in a half-pipe is held by Joffrey Pollet-Villard, with 26 feet 3 inches. The sport is considered to be dangerous compared to other sports, and helmets are required to be worn during competitions. Half-pipe skiing has been part of the Winter X Games since 2002, and made its Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. David Wise of the United States of America became the first Olympic champion in this discipline with a total of 92.00 points.
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