Tahoe’s David Wise Wins Gold in Ski Halfpipe in Driving Sleet

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gold medal run halfpipe ski
David Wise during his gold medal run. photo: usa today

We know, we know, David Wise is from Reno, not Tahoe, but you can’t ski halfpipe in Reno.  You gotta come up to Lake Tahoe, California to do that.  So, we’ll claim him.

david wise wins olympic gold
A stoked David Wise after learning he’d won gold. photo: voanews.com

And why wouldn’t we wanna claim David.  The guy is a white-hot halfpipe robot right now.  He won the gold medal at X-Games in 2012, 2013, and 2014 before winning a gold medal in the first ever Olympic ski halfpipe competition yesternight.  Very impressive, David.

David WIse crushing it in difficult conditions.  photo:  guardian.com
David WIse crushing it in difficult conditions. photo: guardian.com

David won his gold medal in very nasty conditions.  Driving sleet was ripping across the pipe when he dropped in for his first Olympic finals run.  You could barely see the top of the pipe from the bottom of the pipe at times.  David overcame and scored a 92.00 that would not be beaten.

David's winning run.
David’s winning run with tricks named.

23-year-old David does what he wants to do in the pipe and has a pretty strict routine along with a wife and 2-year-old child.

“Because skiing is as much an art as it is a sport, I want to put my mark on what skiing is. This is what I think halfpipe skiing should look like, and this is how I like to do it. Beyond that the judges can do or say what they want with it.” – David Wise told Powder Magazine

david wise usa gold
Gold medalist David Wise of the United States, center, celebrates with silver medalist Mike Riddle of Canada, left, and bronze medalist Kevin Rolland of France, after the men’s ski halfpipe final at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

David’s gold medal in Ski Halfpipe plus the US sweep of Ski Slopestyle makes 4 medals taken by USA skiers in the new Olympic events of Ski Slopestyle and Ski Halfpipe.  That means we took 4 out of 6 possible medals in these two events.  Not bad.

Congrats David!

FULL MEN’S SKI HALFPIPE FINAL RESULTS:

mens halfpipe results


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