Flying Frenchman Rides to Winter X Gold
Jan 29 2007 / Aspen, CO Technical Tricks By Candide Thovex Land Him Third Winter X Games Gold, First in Skiing SlopestyleAspen, Colo. – In his eighth Winter X Games appearance, 24-year old Candide Thovex from La Clusaz, France beat out Sammy Carlson and Colby West to win his first Slopestyle gold. Winning the Winter X Games Big Air competition in 2000 then the SuperPipe contest in 2003, Thovex had never won the Slopestyle in three past attempts.
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“I’ve been to the X Games eight times and I was almost ready to retire,” said Thovex. “After the first run, I thought I was done and I thought maybe I would just come back next year,” he said, surprised by his win. “But then I decided I had nothing to lose so I did some tricks that I haven’t done in a long time and it was like magic.”
Thovex was recently named one of the “48 Greatest Skiers of Our Time” by Powder Magazine.
Fresh off a third place in the U.S. Open Big Air competition, young gun, Sammy Carlson from Tigard, Oregon skied for the silver medal on his second run in his second Winter X Games. At the bottom of his run, the 18-year old said, “I’ve done so much hard work over the last year and it all paid off today. I would have loved to get the gold but the medal in the X Games is a medal in the X Games.”
With no formal skiing background, Winter X Games rookie, Colby West from Canterbury, N.H. walked away with the bronze. The 21-year old won the SuperPipe in the Vermont Open in 2005, and was surprised at his podium finish. “This is better than I could have hoped for,” said 21-year old West. “I didn’t think I was going to do this well so I want to just keep it going.”
When asked how West was going to celebrate his third place, he said, “I’m going to go dancing tonight.”
SKIING SLOPESTYLE MEN’S
Final Results from Aspen/Snowmass on Sunday, January 28, 2007
- Candide Thovex
- Sammy Carlson
- Colby West
- Simon Dumont
- Jacob Wester
- John Spriggs
- Andreas Hatveit
- Charles Gagnier
- Jon Olsson
- JF Houle
