COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO (Dec. 22) – Two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) made a big leap towards Sochi Sunday with his third-place finish at the Paul Mitchell Slopestyle at the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix. White’s top-four result fulfilled the objective criteria for Olympic qualification as well as gave him the highest U.S. result so far in the five-event qualification series, putting him in a solid position going into the three remaining events. The stacked field of international talent made for a progressive competition, especially the Norwegians, who went one-two with winner Staale Sandbech stomping an incredible cab 1440 and scoring a 97.00. The fight for the first-ever Olympic slopestyle team will only get more competitive when the Sprint Grand Prix Tour moves to Breckenridge Jan. 8-11.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) made a big leap towards Sochi Sunday with his third-place finish at the Paul Mitchell Slopestyle at the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix.
• White’s top-four result fulfilled the objective criteria for Olympic qualification as well as gave him the highest U.S. result so far in the five-event qualification series, which could be crucial in January when his two best scores are compared with the rest of U.S. riders. Sunday’s result also earned White the FIS World Cup points he needed to become Olympic eligible in slopestyle.
• The stacked field of international talent made for a progressive competition, especially the Norwegians, who went one-two with winner Staale Sandbech stomping an incredible cab 1440 and scoring a 97.00 and Torstein Horgmo taking second.
• Chas Guldemond (Reno, NV) was hoping to improve his first run score of 88.5, but went down in his second run and landed fifth for the second time in two events. He still sits on top of the standings, but only has three more chances to secure a top-four result.
• Overall the course was running a bit slow due to the new snow and cold, dry Colorado weather. Increasing winds in the second round also threw off many riders during the jumps.
• White’s third-place run: Gap cab 270 to 270 out on the down-flat-down, frontside 270 to 270 out on the down rail, 50/50 gap to frontside board fakie out on the battleship rail, switch backside double 1080, cab double 1260 and backside double 1080.
• Despite White’s podium result, it’s still anyone’s game. The fight for the first-ever Olympic slopestyle team will only get more competitive when the Sprint Grand Prix Tour moves to Breckenridge Jan. 8-11.

QUOTES
Chas Guldemond
It was good, but it was tough. The conditions were super slow so it was all about putting a run together and then going from there. The new snow from last night is super cold, so it’s not fast and it started getting windy on the second run.

Now that I’m sitting pretty good with my position in the U.S. I’m going to just start focusing on me and really start working on those big tricks.

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