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Canada’s Mark McMorris has defended his Gold medal title in Slopestyle with the highest ever score in X Games Slopestyle history. The 19 year old from Regina was able to earn an impressive 98.00 in the first North American 6Star event on the World Snowboard Tour this season. McMorris executed an impressive display on the upper rail setup and then landed a cab 900 double cork to a front 1080 double cork to a double backflip. His last jump was a triple cork 1440 that seemed to be no less than flawless.
“I came here to do the run I wanted to and was able to pull it off, so I’m really stoked, “ he said. McMorris, who won silver in last night’s big air event, not only walked away with a gold tonight but also 1000 World Snowboard Tour points.
Second place went to fellow Canadian, 18 year old Max Parrot who’s run scored an impressive 90 points. His first jump was a cab double 900 and then a front 1080 double on the second jump to a double backflip on the third. His last jump was a huge back triple 1440. Parrot’s second place finish also bumped him up into second place in the World Snowboard Tour’s Slopestyle rankings.
Seppe Smits from Belgium landed a very clean run including a triple cork. Smits had some issues with his triple on the last feature that forced him to revert, but it was still good enough to land him on the podium in third.
For the Women, it was USA’s Jamie Anderson who took home the gold for the second year in a row and her fourth gold medal at X Games. A few of the Women were having issues landing clean runs on this year’s course, but Anderson was able to lay down a run that was both clean and full of amplitude. Her run included a backside 180 to a cab 720 to a massive switch backside 540. “It just feels so good”, said Anderson about her win, “ I’m so happy to be here with a healthy body and a healthy mind.” Anderson’s win helped her move into fifth place in the Women’s overall World Snowboard Tour rankings.
Sarka Pancochova, the 22 year old Czech scored a 90 to put her into second place. Pancochova landed a very clean backside 720 on the last jump of the course that helped her boost her score. This is the first X Games medal for the Czech athlete.
In third was Spencer O’Brien out of British Columbia, Canada. O’Brien was having issues in both practice and during competition, but was able to land a run with a memorable cab 5. Spencer has not been on the podium at this event for four years. “It just feels really good to be back on top,” said O’Brien.