The Olympics Are Coming
crust
- September 22 2009
- 3,966 views
- 34 comments
For riders who want a piece of Olympic gold, it will be a long road to Vancouver. Spots on the US Team—and every team around the world—are limited. Between the team selection process and individual eligibility requirements, it’s quite a pile to sort through—and not just for the riders, for the fans, too. But all we want to know is—will our favorite dude (or female) be on the Olympic team? Well, we can’t quite tell you that yet, but we can tell you a little about how it’s decided. After poring over some documents at the USSA web site, we hit up U.S. Team’s Head Halfpipe Coach Mike Jankowski to help break it down a bit. For the full, unedited, official deal, go here.
Shaun White. Cypress, B.C. Photo: Serfas
Individual Eligibility: In order to be eligible to compete in the Olympics, everyone needs one top 30 finish in one World Cup event between Sept. 2008 and Jan 18, 2010. Mike adds, “This is the FIS rule that basically makes sure anyone who ends up in the Olympics is competitive at an international level,” says Jankowski.
Olympic Starts: In order to have four available USA start spots for halfpipe, there must be four USA riders in the Top 40 of the FIS World Rank List. (Top 30 for the women). This list runs for about 1.5 seasons. The dates of the list are Jan 18, 2009 - Jan 18, 2010. This is similar to the process they used in 2002. “It makes each country earn their start spots so that the most competitive nations make it to the Olympics, and so that every small nation in the world can’t just enter people in whatever event.”
Then, our nation’s qualification process is the same as it has been. There are 5 Grand Prix events and based on each rider’s Top 2 results, a Grand Prix rank list is created. If the USA ends up with 4 men and 4 women in the World Rank List mentioned above, then the U.S. can enter up to that many riders in the Olympics for halfpipe.
These are the 5 Grand Prix pipe events: December 11-12, 2009 Copper Mountain, COJanuary 5-6, 2010 Mammoth, CA
December 8-9, 2010 Mammoth, CA
January 22, 2010 Park City, UT
January 23, 2010 Park City, UT
And these are just for pipe. There are five qualifiers for each discipline(find the schedule for the others here). Jankowski adds that “Each nation can enter a maximum of 18 people between all of the snowboarding disciplines—halfpipe, snowboard cross, parallel giant slalom—the number of people we enter in each event is based on how internationally competitive we are in that event (i.e. medal chances). So each discipline needs to earn those start spots by having people ranked in the Top 40/30 in the FIS World Rank List. If we have more than 18 people eligible between all of the disciplines, then we have to look at which disciplines we are the most competitive in and name our team based on that. Based on the last Olympics, we would likely enter 4 men and 4 women in halfpipe then look at SBX, then ALP.” Keep in mind that the results and positioning for each individual, as well as national teams are all still undecided at this time. Place your bets! Seriously, though, keep yourself updated on the Olympic selection process, right here. Stay tuned.
Kelly Clark. She's down. Photo: Serfas
For more, check the US Snowboard Grand Prix site, here.
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September 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 pm
olympics are gay
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 am
shaun white photo is at Cypress not Seymour.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:54 am
you're gay
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 am
shaun white kills snowboarding
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:00 am
word. the olympics are so homoish
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:30 am
shaun white killed snowboard, he has become everything it tried not to be.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:07 pm
everybody is gay
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
your father is gay
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Gay like happy?
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Really? I don't think it's him. I think the finger should be pointed at the big corporate companies cashing in on the sport.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
White hasn't killed snowboarding. Snowboarding is still one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Shit, if anything, he's helped the sport grow.
The sport as a whole has simply been split into sects. There are riders who live for competition; there are riders who live for filming, etc. The sport isn't dead by any means. It's just about strapping on a board, and doing what YOU think is fun. I agree that a lot of companies are starting to mass-produce a bunch of shit just to cash in, but you can't blame that on the riders — they're just doing what they love.
Stop hating on riders just because they'd rather compete. Christ. Just go out and have fun; that's all that matters.
Besides, nobody really gives a shit if you don't like Shaun White or not, so keep it to yourself.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Also, you can't deny that he's fuckin' godly at riding. The kid is incredibly good.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
turd-feelers, all of you. What is this "cashing in" you are all dreaming about? Nobody is cashing in—pro snowboard teams and companies are dropping lies flies. Even hurtin' burton.
You guys should all "cash in" your dream of snowboard stardom, get away from your computer and go look for a job.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Shaun White has good technique, but i don't like his style, and i don't like the olympics!
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:46 pm
What a bunch of backwards dipshits. The Olympics bring more attention to snowboarding and that's good because it brings more money which brings more development of products and more possibilities. You retards who don't understand the difference between watching snowboard contests and actually riding down a mountain on a snowboard need to go away and quit and never come back. I don't give a fuck about any contest when I am riding in the pow. You shouldn't either. Saying the Olympics are bad for snowboarding is a totally clueless comment. And actually serves to separate the different facets of snowboarding even further. Nice job, fuckfaces.
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
your the fuckin MAN!
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:44 pm
you should write a book
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
snowboarding's not a sport. uniforms, coaches, and drug testing go against everything we stand for as snowboarders. as far as i'm concerned, fuck the olympics.
terje refused to compete in the olympics. that's gotta count for something…
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:02 pm
so why is snowboard "growing" a good thing? so we can have more football jersey wearing gapers hitting the lips of rails as jumps?
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 pm
no one's making u wear a football jersey, u just snake the people that suck and drop hammers in front of them
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Fuck yeah Terje!! Hes the man!
September 24th, 2009 at 1:24 am
If your not into the olympics. Don't watch it, don't read about it, don't talk about it, just ignore it. Let everyone else enjoy it for what it is.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
no gay like elton john I presume…
September 24th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
competing is fucking gay. viva la PEOPLE CREW, you dont see seth huot ever compete and he is the best snowboarder ever!!!
September 25th, 2009 at 6:39 am
agreed. no one would have turned down any sponsership shaun white was given. He has it made. I blame burton not shaun white
September 25th, 2009 at 6:41 am
ha the kids with the football jereys are the best. but watch out for their relative, the no shirt ripped as shit idiots, their dangerous
September 28th, 2009 at 5:29 am
obviously you care if people don't like shaun white because you decided to write a book on the topic. and yes corporate sponsorships will bring growth to snowboarding, but its not the type of growth that I, or a lot of other riders want. When the growth of our sport is taken out of the riders hands and put into ceo's baddddd things happen. just take a look what milk has done to skateboarding. hahaha
September 28th, 2009 at 5:30 am
one big toolbox?
September 28th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Remembering the good ole days from when you started huh.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Just take a look at how many more skateparks and snowparks are being built because of the growth of both sports, corporate or not. The growth of the sport equals mainstream acceptance, which means more long term benefits and opportunities for narrow minded fools like you who don't have their facts straight.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Could not supporting the Olympics be considered un-patriotic? TERRORISTS!!!!!!!!!!
September 28th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
HAHAHAHAH! Oh my side hurts.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
it is all what you are into….some people like filming and hate contests. Others are competeing all season and dont have the time to film. It is what is most fun to the rider and how they want to steer their snowboarding careers. If you can make a solid living filming and doing shoots then take advantage of it.
Other riders have the ability to make a real good living through cometitions. Olympics have their pros and cons. Snowbarding has so many different aspects and that is why we all love it; rails, powder, cliffs, park jumps, pipe etc…..People that bash certain elements of snowboarding or people for what they do are "the lame thing" about snowboarding. Most likely those people aren't very good at what they bash and are jealous of the rider(s) better then them. All the diversity and different aspects and people in snowboarding today is what makes it so fun and a great sport.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
All the haters out there….we are sorry you life isn't that great….but grow up and realize why you like to shred and why you love the lifestyle so much. The comps and Olympics (love or hate 'em) bring major sponsors and dollars to our industry….and this money gets spread throughout from rider to your favorite company to your filmer and fav mag like Transworld.
Enjoy the shred