Heading into the men's slopestyle snowboarding competition Saturday at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, all the talk was about the rivalry between Olympic halfpipe champion Shaun White of the United States against Canadian Mark McMorris of Regina, Saskatchewan, the defending X Games champion.
But at the end of the day, it was all McMorris. The teenage sensation helped lead Canada to an impressive 1-2 finish at Aspen, Colorado Saturday. The result is just over a year before slopestyle snowboarding will make its debut at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
McMorris posted a third run score of 98 points, in what ESPN touted as a very "gnarly" performance. The 98 points McMorris posted was a X Games record for the event.
It was also a great day for Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Quebec, who finished in second place. Both McMorris and Parrot were significantly better than White, who finished a disappointing fifth.
In the women's slopestyle snowboarding competition, world champion Spencer O'Brien of Vancouver finished in third place behind American Jamie Anderson and Sarka Pancochova of the Czech Republic.
Slopestyle skiing, which will also make its Olympic debut at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi next year, is on the X Games schedule for Sunday. Kaya Turski of Montreal is the three-time defending X Games women's champion.
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