X Games: Bertoni takes gold in men's pipe
Aspen, Colo. – French skier Xavier Bertoni wowed the Thursday night crowd at Winter X Games 13, taking the gold at the Men’s Skiing SuperPipe Final.
Bertoni took control of the competition early and held on to grab the gold with a score of 93.66. Tanner Hall, who was looking for his fourth straight gold in the event, grabbed the silver with a score of 92.00 and Simon Dumont rounded out the medalists with a 91.00.
Aspen, Colo. – French skier Xavier Bertoni wowed the Thursday night crowd at Winter X Games 13, taking the gold at the Men’s Skiing SuperPipe Final.
Bertoni took control of the competition early and held on to grab the gold with a score of 93.66. Tanner Hall, who was looking for his fourth straight gold in the event, grabbed the silver with a score of 92.00 and Simon Dumont rounded out the medalists with a 91.00.
“We trained really, really hard for this,” Bertoni said about his win. “This pipe was huge; I am so excited about tonight.”
Before the competition, the majority of the talk was about Hall and Dumont, but Bertoni’s final run that included an alley-oop flat spin 360, a switch 720 and 1260 at the bottom, clinched his first Winter X Games gold.
Hall’s silver was his 12th Winter X Games medal and though he was disappointed in not winning, said tonight was a big night for skiing.
“Tonight I was so excited,” Hall said. “The funny thing is I actually felt nervous. It was crazy that I had to throw down my third run and stick it. I did the best I could to throw it down. This was such a great night for skiing.”
The Skiing SuperPipe event represents the progression of the sport and showcases the best pipe riders in the world. The 540-foot long, 22-foot deep SuperPipe is 75-feet from lip-to-lip with a pitch of 18 degrees. This translates into maximum amplitude and speed for the athletes to perform their tricks.
X Games men’s skiing superpipe final results:
1. Xavier Bertoni La Clusaz, France 93.66
2. Tanner Hall Kalispell, Mont. 92.00
3. Simon Dumont Bethel, Maine 91.00
4. Justin Dorey Vernon, BC, Canada 83.33
5. Colby West Breckenridge, Colo. 79.33
6. Duncan Adams Breckenridge, Colo. 74.66
7. AJ Kemppainen Kuusamo, Finland 72.33
8. Kevin Rolland La Plagne, France 50.00