X Games finished up Sunday with lots of snow coming down. Athletes battled through the extra inches of the white stuff in final events ranging from Men’s Ski Slopestyle to Women’s SuperPipe.
Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe was cut short on Saturday night due to heavy snow, but events on Sunday managed to continue as usual. New Zealander and twenty-five-year-old Jossi Wells took gold in Men’s Ski Slopestyle. “To come here my 10th time and finally get the gold that I’ve been after since I was back here when I was 17,” said Wells afterwards, “is amazing. I’m so happy.” Wells had dropped out of some of the other disciplines to focus on slopestyle. Telluride’s Gus Kenworthy and Oystein Braaten of Norway took silver and bronze respectively.
Fifteen-year-old Chloe Kim snagged the gold in the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe. The Californian said afterwards that it was “pretty crazy” coming in as the defending champion. “I’m just so happy with my riding, I’m so stoked I was able to put one down,” she said afterwards, “even with all this snow, and I’m just so excited.”
Kim is one of a handful of competitors under sixteen-years-old at the X Games this year, and the only athlete in the event’s history to win two gold medals before reaching that age. Silver and bronze winners in the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Sunday afternoon were Arielle Gold of Steamboat Springs and China’s Xuetong Cai.
Law enforcement said Sunday afternoon that this winter’s edition of the X Games went smoothly. Significantly more state and federal officials were on hand this year to help monitor activity and respond in the event of an emergency. Those resources included an All Hazards Response Team from Garfield County, a bomb squad from Grand Junction, and a statewide team monitoring social media and other activity. A representative from the Aspen Police Department said Sunday that more experts were on hand were due to concerns about terrorism and other attacks.
