X for Extra Insight

An exhausted winner, substitute gold and a first bronze, a European nest of resistance: the tenth X Games and new lessons from the world of extreme sports.

Levi LaVallee’s biggest lesson from the Xth X Games is that it requires an awful lot of strength to muscle aside Blair Morgan, who’s considered to be nearly unbeatable. So much strength, that you tumble from your snowmobile from sheer exhaustion in the 14th of 15 rounds.
Levi LaVallee’s second biggest lesson from the Xth X Games is that whoever fights his way back onto his vehicle and still manages to cross the finish line second is also a winner. “Silver,” Levi LaVallee said afterward, “silver is pretty cool.”
Tanner Hall’s biggest lesson from the X Games is that you can still take gold even when the event you were favoured to win is cancelled. The ski Slopestyle competition, which Tanner dominated in 2002, 2003 and 2004, fell victim to the large quantities of snow in Aspen. And so the 22-year-old from Kalispell, MT (USA) applied his jumping ability to the SuperPipe. Adding to his silver medals from 2003 and 2005, he collected his now eighth X Games medal and his fifth gold, because he also won the 2001 Big Air. In the same competition, fellow American Simon Dumont not only gained a medal, but also new knowledge: he was third for the first time. After having won the last two years, he should have sufficient motivation to politely, but firmly, demand satisfaction from Tanner Hall at the 2007 X Games. More lessons: the Swiss Mat Rebeaud now knows what it feels like to be the only European in a MotoX final and to take silver. (He enjoyed the lesson immensely.) Hanna Beaman can feel like she was part of making a legend: she let Janna Meyen go ahead of her in the snowboard Slopestyle, and Janna went on to become the first person in the history of the X Games to win four victories in a row in the same discipline. And speaking of legends: Shaun White (two days after Janna) took his fourth consecutive Slopestyle title, and he also won the SuperPipe. That gave him his sixth Winter X Games gold medal, equalling Shaun Palmer’s record.