Clark and James deliver half-pipe success in Olympics test event
BySportsbeat
Updated 19/02/2017 at 17:10 GMT
Kelly Clark took victory in the official 2018 Olympic Winter Games warm-up event as the ladies' halfpipe World Cup campaign drew to an end in Pyeongchang.
Kelly Clark of the US competes during the women's halfpipe final in the FIS Snowboard World Cup at Phoenix Snow Park in Pyeongchang on February 19, 2017. The FIS World Cup event is a test event for the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Image credit: AFP
The 33-year-old landed a frontside air to backside 540 mute, frontside 1080 indy, cab 720 invert and a crippler indy in Korea, a performance suggesting she is finally back to the top of her capabilities.
That was enough for her to take top spot with 94.00, a marked improvement from her opening run to take a 13th World Cup win of her career.
Coincidentally it also proved the fourth time she has prevailed in an Olympic Winter Games warm-up event, with the 2002 Olympic gold medallist also taking top spot prior to Games in Bardonecchia in 2005, Cypress Mountain four years later and Sochi back in 2013.
"I'm thankful to put down the run I did today, and I'm stoked of my snowboarding and even more stoked to end up atop of the podium," she said.
"In practise I did some cleaner runs. In my first run, I landed in the flat a couple of times and kind of under-rotated a few things. It was good to get one under my belt but I knew I could do it cleaner.
"I have hoped that I can build. It's awesome to be at a test event knowing that I have a whole year to progress."
Clark finished 2.5 points ahead of runner-up and six-time World Cup champion Liu Jiayu, while fellow Chinese competitor Cai Xuetong rounded off the podium with a score of 86.50.
The men's event saw Scotty James add another big win to his repertoire, and a first World Cup win to his name too.
A backside double cork 1260, frontside double cork 1080, cab double cork 1080 and frontside 900 proved to be his winning display, getting the better of Shaun White, the double Olympic champion who had been leading up until then.
Australian James finished with 96.00 points, just one point ahead of the American while Zhang Xiwei rounded off the top three.
"It feels amazing winning the test event. I absolutely love South Korea. Every run here has been so awesome," said the 22-year-old.
"The crowds and fans have been so welcoming and very helpful. They put on an awesome pipe here for us to ride, and yeah, I'm really excited.
"It's 12 months down the track from today. It's going to be another exciting day in one year. And with a halfpipe like that anything is possible. It's going to be awesome."
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