Quote:
Originally Posted by Nehkara
I know this will reveal my ignorance about the sports but it is somewhat surprising to me that we can be so good at ski cross, snowboard cross, snowboard slopestyle, ski slopestyle, moguls, and aerials... and not be any good at halfpipe.
|
It's cyclical. If this was in the games in 2010, Dorey would be one of the favourites for gold and Burke would be a major favourite for gold in the women's. Since then others have surpassed the people who were good back then, particularly on the men's side. The sport is evolving so quickly (not as quickly as 2000-2010, but still quickly) that different people are favourites each year. To give you an idea, Nick Goepper just became the first person to win gold in back to back years in ski slope in over a decade.
Quote:
|
I don't think "being top 5 talent" is that much of an outside shot. Riddle and Dorey both have a shot, and how is Groenewoud an outside shot?
|
Let's be serious: barring major screw ups, Torin Yater Wallace and David Wise have two of the three podium spots; they're just too damned good. The third is a matter of debate; I'd say the odds on favourite for that one is Kevin Rolland, taking into account the ####tiness of the pipe and how locked down his doubles are. But the ####tiness of the pipe could put the whole thing in a blender.
As for the Canadians, Dorey has a shot if he puts his run down. The problem is he rarely seems to actually do that in major events lately. He's definitely the best shot at the podium, but I wouldn't put money on it. Riddle didn't even (technically) make the final at X this year, and he didn't fall, he had one of the best runs of his life, there were just too many guys who were as good or better. He's a member of a large crowd of guys who are good enough for finals but not a good bet to win. And I'm pulling for Marg, but even making the finals with a recently torn ACL would be an accomplishment for him.
You're right, Roz has a good chance at a podium spot. You never really know what a Women's pipe comp is going to look like; Maddie Bowman is coming off her second gold and can't even do an uphill 3 consistently. Just a matter of who puts the least sketchy run down, most likely.
EDIT: In related news, how about a separate thread for ski slope and pipe to explain stuff to people who haven't seen it very much before? Seemed like a number of people were pretty baffled on the SNB side. Probably a good time for it considering men's ski slope qualis are at 11:15 MST tonight.