2008 Woodie Awards
Vermonters reclaim Olympic gold
Christine Fsher
Issue date: 2/23/06 Section: Local News
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Of the 211 athletes representing the United States at the XX Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, seven proudly hail from Vermont: Andy Newell of Shaftsbury, Andrew Johnson of Greensboro, Chip Knight of Stowe, Hannah Kearney of Norwich, Hannah Teter of Belmont, Lindsey Jacobellis of Stratton, and Kelly Clark of West Dover.
Newell and Johnson are cross-country skiers, Knight is an alpine skier, Kearney is a freestyle skier, specializing in moguls, and Teter, Jacobellis, and Clark compete in the two snowboarding events, the standard halfpipe and its lesser-known cousin, the snowboardcross, or boardercross, which makes its Olympic debut this year.
Kearney, though an Olympic rookie, was initially the gold medal favorite for freestyle skiing, mainly on account of her shining performance at the 2005 world championships, where she placed first. Unfortunately, she did not even make it to the finals after a terrible run did not qualify her to advance to the next round.
With Kearney out of the mix, the girls on the snowboarding circuit have been responsible for accumulating the most Vermont bling thus far, with Teter taking gold in the halfpipe and Jacobellis seizing silver in the new snowboardcross event. Clark, who conquered the halfpipe in 2002, just narrowly missed a place on the medals podium this year, as she earned fourth place for her performance in the same event. Even so, the successes of Teter and Jacobellis bring the running total for medals won in snowboarding by natives of the Green Mountain State to five: in addition to Clark's 2002 gold, Ross Powers has snatched two medals for Vermont, a halfpipe bronze in 1998 and a gold in 2002.
The snowboardcross mainly differs from the halfpipe in that it is not scored by judges; instead, it is a race, plain and simple. Four snowboarders leave the gate and the first one to the bottom, after a long series of jumps and other obstacles on a 1500 meter course, is the winner. Attempting to earn stylistic points for "artistic impression" is therefore not truly necessary. All that really matters -- to win, anyway -- is getting to the bottom of the slope first.
Newell and Johnson are cross-country skiers, Knight is an alpine skier, Kearney is a freestyle skier, specializing in moguls, and Teter, Jacobellis, and Clark compete in the two snowboarding events, the standard halfpipe and its lesser-known cousin, the snowboardcross, or boardercross, which makes its Olympic debut this year.
Kearney, though an Olympic rookie, was initially the gold medal favorite for freestyle skiing, mainly on account of her shining performance at the 2005 world championships, where she placed first. Unfortunately, she did not even make it to the finals after a terrible run did not qualify her to advance to the next round.
With Kearney out of the mix, the girls on the snowboarding circuit have been responsible for accumulating the most Vermont bling thus far, with Teter taking gold in the halfpipe and Jacobellis seizing silver in the new snowboardcross event. Clark, who conquered the halfpipe in 2002, just narrowly missed a place on the medals podium this year, as she earned fourth place for her performance in the same event. Even so, the successes of Teter and Jacobellis bring the running total for medals won in snowboarding by natives of the Green Mountain State to five: in addition to Clark's 2002 gold, Ross Powers has snatched two medals for Vermont, a halfpipe bronze in 1998 and a gold in 2002.
The snowboardcross mainly differs from the halfpipe in that it is not scored by judges; instead, it is a race, plain and simple. Four snowboarders leave the gate and the first one to the bottom, after a long series of jumps and other obstacles on a 1500 meter course, is the winner. Attempting to earn stylistic points for "artistic impression" is therefore not truly necessary. All that really matters -- to win, anyway -- is getting to the bottom of the slope first.