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Sage takes the gold!

Unexpected and well-deserved, Sage Kotsenburg takes the 1st gold medal in Olympic slopestyle history

 

We knew it – we knew it allll along. Ok, maybe we were just as shocked as you were. The Canadians were looking solid, our lead man (ahem… The redhead who will not be named) backed out, and the slopestyle course was – literally – taking down riders right an left. Out of nowhere – and faaar too early on a Saturday – Sage Kotsenburg clinched the win. All the factors lined up: the sun was shining, the snow was soft, and his trusty APO Snowboard was ready for action. Silver Medalist Mark McMorris looked a little forced on the rotation, maybe he was nervous. In truth, we have no idea what lead Sage Kotsenburg to the gold – but whatever it was, “we’ll have what he’s having.”

“I ended up landing it, and winning with it.”



Sage Kotsenburg told a crowd of stunned reporters, “I ended up landing it, and winning with it.” He was met with blank stares. Charts and graphs and teams of experts that had never actually put wax to snow or hiked the back bowls to get one extra powder run cannot comprehend the snowboarder spirit of “huck and hope.” This is how our sport progresses. Its why we wait in lift lines, in blizzards, in single digit weather. The trick Sage Kotsenburg was referring to was the – now famous – BACK 16 JAPAN (Backside 1620, Japan Grab) mindblowing. Just sit in any spin chair, have a buddy spin you 4 and a half times, and try to land on your feet from 30ft in the air.

The moral of the story is that there is no magic, no secret to his success – like any one of us Sage Kotsenburg had an epic day. He’s just lucky enough to have had his day at the SBS Finals of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

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