By MATTHEW WOODS
Contributing Writer
With the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia finally here, it’s time to learn a little about some of the athletes who will be competing. We all know about some of the big name athletes headed to Sochi, but the United States roster contains a number of worthy athletes expecting to medal. The U.S. team is comprised of 230 athletes competing in all 15 disciplines and 94 of the 98 medal events.
Snowboarding is one particular sport that has become popular all around the world in recent years, and with the inception of slopestyle events in the Sochi Olympics, it will only gain more popularity.
The half-pipe, however, is where U.S. Olympians will most likely shine in the games. Shaun White will lead fellow Olympians, Danny Davis, Greg Bretz, and Taylor Gold against a wide range of tough high-flying competitors like Iouri “IPod” Podladtchikov of Switzerland and Ayumu Hirano of Japan.
Although White is the odds on favorite to win, Davis is no laughing matter when it comes to medal contention.
Davis, 25, of Highland, Mich. is bringing style back to a sport that in recent years has been all about spins and flips. Heralded as one of the most stylish and best young riders a few years back, Davis’ career has had a number of up-and-downs, but this most recent “up,” may be the start of something new for this talented rider.
The most recent winner of the X-Games men’s SuperPipe competition, Davis does things his way when it comes to snowboarding. Davis’ riding is much like what riding used to be before all of the technical tricks, such as the “double-cork”, were introduced. His runs in the pipe are highlighted by one trick that puts style above all else. That trick is the “switch method”.
One of the most stylish tricks in the sport, the “switch method,” involves the rider coming in switch, or with the non-dominant foot forward leading into the jump and throughout the whole trick. The baseball equivalent of a switch method would be throwing a fastball at 90 miles per hour with your opposite throwing hand. When the rider takes off of the lip of the jump, he grabs the board just outside the heel of the leading foot, and “tweaks” or “pokes” the board outwards.
Davis is currently the only rider to feature this trick in his run, however, his run is lacking the newly nicknamed “Yolo Flip”, which consists of three spins and two flips with a tweaked out grab in the middle of the trick. Only two riders in the world are currently known to have the trick: Podladtchikov who was the originator of the trick, and White who is the most consistent at landing the trick in competition.
Even without the “Yolo Flip,” Davis is still expected to compete for a medal, and more importantly give Shaun White a run for his money, which at this state in his career with all the disappointment he’s gone through is incredible.
Davis’ long journey to the Sochi Olympics started back in 2010. After solidifying his spot on the U.S. team for the Vancouver Olympics, Davis suffered a broken pelvis in an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle. With the accident happening so close to the Olympics and leaving him with no time to heal, Davis had to surrender his spot on the Olympic team.
The years between the accident, Davis was still riding and trying to retrieve the form he once had. Event after event, Davis struggled and repeatedly failed to make the finals in many half-pipe events.
However, Davis’ confidence in his ability never dwindled. Four years of persevering led him to the Mammoth Grand Prix Olympic Qualifying event in Mammoth, Cali. A day that featured two half-pipe qualifying events due to a schedule pushback, Davis tamed the pipe as he once did before his injury, winning the first qualifier and once again sealing his spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Winning the qualifier propelled Davis into the X-Games SuperPipe competition which, much like the qualifying event was without Shaun White. Davis won the SuperPipe event, which was his first ever X-Games medal, proving that style is still important in the sport.
So, here we are in the Sochi Olympic Games. Davis has returned to form in the halfpipe and is poised to make a run for a medal. And who knows, with all of the momentum he’s gained from the last few events, maybe he’ll take home gold.
