Halfpipe, Women

The American foursome was considered formidable and a sweep seemed a possibility. They were led by Gretchen Bleiler, who had been US Champion in 2003 and 2005, was World Superpipe Champion in 2003, and had won the X-Games in 2005. The defending champion was American Kelly Clark, who was somewhat of a surprise in 2002, but was now considered one of the best halfpipers in the world. The third American was Hannah Teter, who came from the first family of American snowboarding. In 2005 she had been featured in a snowboarding documentary, First Descent, which also starred Shaun White and Norwegian snowboarding legend Terje Håkonsen. All three Americans easily made it thru the qualifying, which was led by Clark, with the top European, Norway’s Kjersti Buaas, joining them, along with the fourth American, Elena Hight. Both Buaas and Hight needed their second run to qualify. The final was dominated not by Bleiler, as expected, but by Hannah Teter, who posted the top score on both runs. Her first run of 44.6 was good enough for the gold medal, but she surpassed it in run two with a 46.4. Bleiler hung on for second, placing second in both runs. Clark was in third after the first run, but Buaas improved to 42.0 in the second to move up to the bronze medal and break up the American sweep.