By Daniel Dodd
EXPN.com
Jan. 19, 2002
And so the countdown begins. With the conclusion of Saturday's Men's and Women's SuperPipe Final at Winter X Games VI in Aspen, Co., the three men and three women who make up the U.S. Olympic snowboard halfpipe team will take some needed time off before they begin making their trek to Park City, Utah, to drop in for their country at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Tricia Byrnes, Shannon Dunn, Kelly Clark, Tommy Czeschin, Ross Powers, and Dan Kass will be in the pipe February 10-11 hoping to gather the first U.S. gold medal in Olympic snowboarding. Another men's spot will likely be awarded when the team is announced on Jan. 29 and it will likely go to J.J. Thomas, who wowed the crowd in Aspen with a gold medal performance on Saturday. "This is my last contest," said Byrnes who placed ninth at Winter X. "We've been on such contest overload that I am just excited for this to be over so we can take a couple days off and then really get back into it. We have all been competing like twice a week forever. We are all running on fumes." Qualifying for the Olympics was intense, to say the least. The riders got points by competing in any International Ski Federation events since November 2001 and five Grand Prix events. The more events you raced, the more points you could accumulate. Unlike the Winter X Games where the previous year's winners earn an automatic bid, the Olympics are every man or woman for themselves. "Just the qualifying process is such an ordeal," said Byrnes as she handed her signed Winter X bib to a lucky fan. "You're competing and every run counts it seems, for three months. Here, it's just three runs, who cares! Go for it! You have a good time, see all the bands and go out." Tommy "The Machine" Czeschin, a two-time Winter X medalist who finished sixth in the pipe at Aspen agrees that the Olympic qualifying process could use some tweaking. "Qualifying for the Olympics was definitely way too hectic," said Czeschin. "It's amazing how it worked out because all the guys who got the ? last year are also on the men's team this year. Qualifying for the X Games is pretty hard to do. You have to be one of the top riders. But if you have a good year then you are going to go to the X Games and if you do well there, then you can go again the next year." Despite the hassles, Czeschin didn't hesitate when asked which event would mean more to him personally and professionally. "Definitely the Olympics. It's a huge contest and it's only once every four years. Winter X Games is every year and it's huge to win a medal here but I would definitely say the Olympics. It's great for snowboarding to get so much exposure." With the Olympics right around the corner, you might have expected the riders to take it a little easy in Aspen, but that wasn't the case. "If I was at home I would be trying the same stuff right now", said Kelly Clark who went all out and claimed the gold medal at Winter X with what she called "the best run of her life". But with just three weeks between the Winter X finals and the Olympics, the riders will have to budget their fun with some hard core preparation. Tricia Byrnes isn't wasting any time. "We are going to go to Salt Lake and just start training right away. I'm really excited. It is such a great honor to represent the United States in snowboarding at the biggest sporting event in the world." "I try not to get too stressed about competing. I'm having fun here and I will have fun there," said Clark. "The Olympics are the Olympics you know", said Byrnes. "I'm really excited about it. It's going to be so much fun. There is so much hype for both the Olympics and the X Games and both are so much fun."
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EXPN.com
Jan. 19, 2002
And so the countdown begins. With the conclusion of Saturday's Men's and Women's SuperPipe Final at Winter X Games VI in Aspen, Co., the three men and three women who make up the U.S. Olympic snowboard halfpipe team will take some needed time off before they begin making their trek to Park City, Utah, to drop in for their country at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Tricia Byrnes, Shannon Dunn, Kelly Clark, Tommy Czeschin, Ross Powers, and Dan Kass will be in the pipe February 10-11 hoping to gather the first U.S. gold medal in Olympic snowboarding. Another men's spot will likely be awarded when the team is announced on Jan. 29 and it will likely go to J.J. Thomas, who wowed the crowd in Aspen with a gold medal performance on Saturday. "This is my last contest," said Byrnes who placed ninth at Winter X. "We've been on such contest overload that I am just excited for this to be over so we can take a couple days off and then really get back into it. We have all been competing like twice a week forever. We are all running on fumes." Qualifying for the Olympics was intense, to say the least. The riders got points by competing in any International Ski Federation events since November 2001 and five Grand Prix events. The more events you raced, the more points you could accumulate. Unlike the Winter X Games where the previous year's winners earn an automatic bid, the Olympics are every man or woman for themselves. "Just the qualifying process is such an ordeal," said Byrnes as she handed her signed Winter X bib to a lucky fan. "You're competing and every run counts it seems, for three months. Here, it's just three runs, who cares! Go for it! You have a good time, see all the bands and go out." Tommy "The Machine" Czeschin, a two-time Winter X medalist who finished sixth in the pipe at Aspen agrees that the Olympic qualifying process could use some tweaking. "Qualifying for the Olympics was definitely way too hectic," said Czeschin. "It's amazing how it worked out because all the guys who got the ? last year are also on the men's team this year. Qualifying for the X Games is pretty hard to do. You have to be one of the top riders. But if you have a good year then you are going to go to the X Games and if you do well there, then you can go again the next year." Despite the hassles, Czeschin didn't hesitate when asked which event would mean more to him personally and professionally. "Definitely the Olympics. It's a huge contest and it's only once every four years. Winter X Games is every year and it's huge to win a medal here but I would definitely say the Olympics. It's great for snowboarding to get so much exposure." With the Olympics right around the corner, you might have expected the riders to take it a little easy in Aspen, but that wasn't the case. "If I was at home I would be trying the same stuff right now", said Kelly Clark who went all out and claimed the gold medal at Winter X with what she called "the best run of her life". But with just three weeks between the Winter X finals and the Olympics, the riders will have to budget their fun with some hard core preparation. Tricia Byrnes isn't wasting any time. "We are going to go to Salt Lake and just start training right away. I'm really excited. It is such a great honor to represent the United States in snowboarding at the biggest sporting event in the world." "I try not to get too stressed about competing. I'm having fun here and I will have fun there," said Clark. "The Olympics are the Olympics you know", said Byrnes. "I'm really excited about it. It's going to be so much fun. There is so much hype for both the Olympics and the X Games and both are so much fun."
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