January 30, 2011
Making a Name For Himself
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Goes to Toutant
Although he is just a Winter X Games rookie, Sebastien Toutant is making quite name for himself in the world of freestyle snowboarding.
Friday night, he claimed the silver medal in Snowboard Big Air and Sunday afternoon he grabbed gold in Snowboard Slopestyle.
“I had no expectations, I just came here to have fun and be with all of my friends at my first X Games,” said the 18-year-old Montreal native. “Just to be invited was crazy. After the Big Air, when I got silver, I was thinking I might be able to do really well in Slopestyle as well. I put it down and made it happen and it is a dream come true.”
The man they call, “Seb Toots” executed a Cab 270, a front 270 on the down rail, front board bagel on the rainbow rail, 50/50 backside-rodeo out on the canon box, Cab 12 double on the first jump, front 10 double on the second jump and back 10 double on the last jump to score a 93.00.
Fellow Canadian and rookie Mark McMorris grabbed the silver medal with a score of 90.00.
“I was pretty excited up there,” said McMorris. “I put it down on the last run, I was really nervous, but I knew I had practiced the run a lot and that I had it. As soon as I landed the second jump I felt like I had pretty much done it.”
The lone American on the podium was Californian Tyler Flanagan, who despite struggling in practice, scored an 82.66 on his second run to grab the bronze.
“Unfortunately, I did not have the best practice,” confessed Flanagan. “I didn’t land the last jump, the backside 12, once – I fell on it every time. I was really nervous at the top, but I started my run off well, pulled it together, and I’m super stoked.”
Snowboard Slopestyle tests a rider’s ability to handle a variety of terrain by executing freestyle maneuvers down a course filled with a variety of features. The Winter X Games 15 course contains rails, hips, tabletops and a variety of jumps allowing riders to combine big air and technical tricks into one run. Riders are judged on amplitude, execution, difficulty of line, landings and use of the course.
For Winter X Games media information, including press releases, logos and additional images from past events, log on to www.espneventmedia.com. To view medalist runs, visit the Winter X Games You Tube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/xgames and follow the X Games on Twitter at Twitter.com/xgames
WINTER X GAMES 15
Winter X Games will celebrate its 15th anniversary in Aspen/Snowmass, Colo. January 27-30, 2011, with live coverage on ESPN and ESPN2. This will mark the 10th consecutive year Winter X Games will be held in Aspen and will feature new events, more than 200 athletes and primetime coverage on ESPN on Sun., Jan.30. In addition to 24 hours of live programming on ESPN, Winter X Games 15 will be offered for the first time on ESPN 3D, as well as on ESPN International, XGames.com, ESPN360.com, SportsCenter and ESPN2’s X Center.
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Contacts: Alex Rozis (Broadcast media), 415-609-0749, alex.a.rozis@espn.com
Danny Chi, (Print Media), 310-491-6131, danny.c.chi@espn.com
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Grace Coryell, 310-956-5098, grace.s.coryell@espn.com