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European X Galleries

2001 Results

To the judges at the wakeboarding discipline of the X Games Qualifier in Barcelona, size does matter. In a very tight finals they gave the gold to Rodo Vinh-Tung of France, because he went bigger than his two closest competitors.

The top spot could have gone to any of the top three. Each of them stepped it up for the finals. They all pulled technically difficult tricks in their final runs and each of them had one fall. Roy Francois, who took second, pulled a Moby Dick (tantrum with a blindside 360) and a tootsie roll (front roll with a blind 180) in his final run but he also had a few butt checks which may have cost him the win. Nick Heaney, who placed third, had a run that was significant because he accomplished a personal first when he hit a blind 540 off the double up. This had him hootin' and hollerin' and the judges were stoked. "I thought (Nick) was going to take it at that point," said announcer Keith Alan.

But Rodo had the last run and the last say in the matter. He made his point by nailing a massive S-Bend, a big batwing (frontside raley with an indy grab), a whirly bird (tantrum with a fully inverted 360 spin) and a 540 rewind 180. His fall came on an attempted 720 on the double up but it was his amplitude not his aptitude that determined his altitude as he rose above the comp to grab the gold.

For his efforts Mr. Vinh-Tung gets the last spot available at the wakeboarding competition at the X Games this summer. When asked how he was going to prepare for the X Games, Rodo said, "Just try to keep on training hard because the guys in the states really stand out. (I'll) try to go bigger and try to work on some new tricks." Only one rider here in Barcelona qualified for this year's X Games in Philly. Given this and the way he won, Rodo's advice to the competition might well be "Go big or go home".

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