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Maltais Dominates, Wins Gold in Women’s Snowboarder X
To say that Women’s Snowboarder X was dominated at Winter X Games Aspen 2012 by Dominique Maltais would be an understatement.
She was easily the fastest rider in the each of the preliminary rounds and when the finals came around it was no different, as she pulled away from the pack to capture her first Winter X Games gold medal.
“I am really happy,” an emotional Maltais said. “I was really looking forward to winning this year. I have been racing really well on the World Cup circuit and I was being positive about this competition. I didn’t look back until the end of the race and I was really surprised when I saw that I was so far in front. I was really happy to win and it was a good race.”
The pride of Bulgaria, Alexandra Jekova, won the silver medal. The medal is the first Winter X Games medal for her country.
“I am really happy that I can bring home this medal,” The Sofia native said. “I hope that people there are going to appreciate it like I do. It was a tough race and I did my best to catch Dominique but she was hard to catch. I am really happy and looking forward to getting better. “
Maelle Ricker rounded out the medalists finishing third.
Seven time gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis did not participate due to an injury.
The X Course is approximately 4,060-feet long with an elevation of 8,700 feet and vertical drop of 690 feet. The X Course includes banked turns, gap jumps, berms, flat and steep sections and ends with a 65-foot jump. Athletes start simultaneously from a starting gate positioned on an incline and race side-by-side to the finish line.
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
Additional photos are available from ESPN Images bit.ly/WX16Pix – password: wxg16
WINTER X GAMES ASPEN 2012
Winter X Games Aspen 2012 returns to Aspen/Snowmass, Colo., January 26-29, 2012, with live coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. This year marks the 11th consecutive year the event is being held in Aspen and features more than 200 of the world’s best athletes in the sports of Skiing, Snowboarding and Snowmobile. In addition to 16 hours of live programing on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, more than nine hours of Winter X Games Aspen content will be offered on ESPN3 and 25 hours on ESPN 3D.
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Contacts: Danny Chi, ESPN, 310-642-1509, danny.c.chi@espn.com
Katie Moses-Swope, ESPN, 303-290-7888, katie.moses-swope@espn.com
Alex Rozis, ESPN, 310-642-1533, alex.a.rozis@espn.com
Grace Coryell, ESPN, 310-642-1519, grace.s.coryell@espn.com