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Line's Time to Shine
By Cassandra L. Watson
EXPN.com
Feb. 01, 2001

MOUNT SNOW, Vt.-After finishing third at last year's Snowboarder X competition, Line Oestvold finally got the result she was working for... a gold medal at Winter X.

Oestvold battled Maelle Ricker for most of the race. She trailed the Canadian most of the way down the mountain until the very end, when Ricker went down and Oestvold was able to pass her. Ricker finished fourth.

"I knew Maelle was faster at the top part so I knew I just had to follow her," said Oestvold. "I had some chances to pass her up there, but I stayed behind because I thought she would go around the last jump, but she didn't and I got lucky."

Vancouver native Erin Simmons had a solid run and was in the right place at the right time to snare a silver medal.

"I had a good pull out of the start, which is exciting. I just kind of held third position the whole way. Maelle and Line got pretty far ahead and I was right there. Then I saw them fly over that last jump and my landing was pretty solid. I kind of just stuck it and went off the side and saw them get mixed up so I just pushed it and got second."

Amy Johnson, who finished third, didn't even realize she had medaled after an impressive and strategic run down the mountain.

"I just found certain places to pass that were better than others," said the native of Rochester, New York. "From the jump some people were speed checking, so that's were I found the place to pass, that seemed to be my best strategy."

Last year's gold medal winner Leslee Olson was injured Thursday afternoon when she fell during her semifinal run, suffering a concussion. The 22-year-old from Bend, Oregon was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

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Mount Snow, VT / Feb. 1-4 2001
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