By Jaymo
EXPN.com
Nov. 05, 2001
Oh Boy! How about them Olympics! Are you as confused about the whole thing
as I am? Do you care? NO?! YES?! Let's face it, the average bear is
expecting to see Todd Richards, Peter Line, and a bunch of video jockeys at
the Olympics. Afterall, they are the best snowboarders in the world, right? Not so fast hardbooter. Getting a spot on the Olympic team is more difficult than you think.
The FIS drama can be best described as FIS Hills 90210.
You have points to collect and outfits to wear right along side a
personality profile that cannot be swayed from. (i.e. NO SMOKING THE WACKY
TABACCI) Not to mention, there are some social politics to deal with that
usually get swept under the carpet. Who will you see at this year's Olympic
Games? That's anyone's guess at this point in the game.
The FIS is a very old and established governing body for world cup skiing.
They have since taken on snowboarding, but given the freestyle state of American snowboarding, the FIS has been unable to pull in a large membership pool. Riders in the US are uninterested in giving a bunch of European skiers money so that they can tell them when and where they can ride the pipe. Enter the Olympics. The IOC and the FIS sleep together. If you want in the Olympics you gotta join and play in the FIS
sandbox.
The USSA, with the guidance of Jeremy Forester, has done an outstanding job
connecting the FIS with the American rider pool. The USSA has been able to
reroute some of the rules so that the best American pipe riders would be
able to take a shot at the Olympics. The reason being; most ruling American
freestylers were/are involved with the US contest scene. The US contest
scene is made up of single, private big money events splattered throughout
the season and are associated with no governing body. In the meantime the
FIS group sanctioned a bunch of micro, no money comps that a lot of "up and
comers" went to. The "up and comers" in turn started earning FIS points and
a path to the Olympics. Now that the 2002 Olympics are around the corner,
most rulers in America are trying to find a way to the gold.
 |
| FIS contender Andy Finch gettin' busy in the "U-Jump." |
The FIS of course wishes they had all the big US contests under their wing.
Take my word for it, the FORUM crew is not going to change their lifestyle to fit the FIS mold. NO WAY. But the USSA knows that many of the best pipe riders have been in non-attendance at most USSA/FIS events and the Olympics need the best representation the US has to offer...so the rules are bending.
The rippers who care to go for the gold are going to be jumping through
some serious hoops. Hot rippers like Todd Richards, Danny Kass, Ross
Powers, Andy Finch, and Chris Klug (plus others) will be charging for a few
spots on the Olympic Squad. When I say "a few spots", I mean, a few
spots - as in three. That's right, you heard me correct. There are three
spots available in each event. Men's Pipe, Women's Pipe, Men's Racing, and
Women's Racing. Obviously nobody is going to qualify for both Racing and
Pipe, or Men's and Women's for that matter, so...three pipe riders
will be in the Olympics. Three men and three women will be dropping in.
Let's think about that for a moment and reflect at how small that number is
in comparison to the massive amount of pipe talent in the US. THREE!
 |
| Wait a second! Oh right, this is the olympics. |
How do you get one of those three spots? The Racing part is easy........the
fastest guy gets in. You go to the qualifying races (a.k.a. - Chevy Trucks
Grand Prix series starting Dec 2001 in Mammoth) you go fast at all three
races, your top two finishes are averaged, and if you are in the top three,
you are going to the Olympics. Halfpipe is a little tricky and here is why.
You get into the Olympics the same way the racers do but there is some "FIS
Hills 90210" to deal with. Racing is all FIS, but pipe crosses over into
the X Games, US Open, and the Vans Triple Crown; all of which are huge but
not FIS sanctioned.
The FIS and the International Olympic Committee dictate to each nation how
large their team can be. The maximum size for each team is 14 although 16
start positions are possible. (16 spots = 4 men's pipe, 4 women's pipe, 4
men's race, 4 women's race) Why have I been telling you there are only
three spots? Here is where it gets sticky. For the past year, a group of
halfpipe riders who are relatively unknown to the media savvy American
youth, have been competing in FIS sanctioned USSA events building points to
qualify Americans for the Olympics. So here's this group of young up and
comers travelling all over the world paying big money and getting no
sponsorship or play to qualify spots for all American riders. Now we have
the 2001-2002 Chevy Trucks Grand Prix as the "team picker mechanism".
Basically, the crew of young FIS pipe riders, who worked all 2000-2001
season collecting points to score quota spots, risk the chance of getting
booted from the team as they compete against halfpipe wrecking machines like
Danny Kass and Todd Richards. They also risk the chance of getting booted
by some unknown that just showed up and unloaded a bag of tricks that starts
an avalanche. It could be you! Yes, you can go to the Qualifying Grand
Prixs that run from Nov 1 through Jan 21 and be on the Olympic team.
Some people are a little upset. Media Superstars and X Games gold medallists
are going to be dropping in out of nowhere with respect to the FIS circuit.
Chances are they are going to take the spots for the Olympic team.
Afterall, they are the best pipe riders in the US. I have been to the USSA
Grand Prixs, and the talent depth is nothing compared to the X Games or the
US Open. Is it fair? Maybe not from an empathetic perspective, but now is
the time for some ass kicking. The debut of halfpipe in the '98 Winter Games
was weak, so we really need to show the world what we got.
Halfpipe riding has reached new levels, and this year's Grand Prixs are
gonna go off. Chances are the comps will be the most heated ever. The
Olympics this year are looking to be the best ever, and why not have the
riders be the best ever. My hat goes off to all the young riders who
competed in the USSA building the quota spots for America. The spots will
hopefully be going to the best riders the US has got regardless if they just
joined the USSA.
One final note: After careful evaluation of the "ambiguous" 2002 Olympic
Winter Games Selection Criteria
http://www.usskiteam.com/general/olyselect02.htm
I can only encourage
everyone to go look at it for yourself and make your own call. I did the
best I could to give you my view and I hope it helps.
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