Torah Wins Gold on Australia Day

Torah Bright, Winter X games '06 silver medalist in the half-pipe has done one better this year by smashing all competition and picking up the gold in the half-pipe.

In a field which saw Gretchen Bleiler, Olympic gold medalist, return to the X Games in her own backyard after skipping last year. The plethora of talent was illustrated by the presence of Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, Molly Aguirre, Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas and Elena Hight, all of whom made it to the final.

The mood this year has been one of tranquility in comparison to the pressure of last year's event where the five rings were the only subject on everyones mind. However the ambience at this year's event seems to be more relaxed, allowing the riders to mix it up more.

With the runs that were being put down, you wouldn't have guessed that the girls were taking it easy. Kelly Clark's monstruous straight airs and Kjersti's emphatic air to fakies as well as more 720's than you could shake a large stick at, not to mention several 900's, this was not a competition for the light-hearted.

A first run of stunning grace and technical brilliance marred only by a slight sit down, meant Torah scored an 85. This was followed by a super run by Bleiler of 91 which included a 9 on her first hit. Elena Hight came in behind with a run that included a bs 9 and fs 7, but could only put her third.

So it was up to Torah to raise the bar on her last run. Showing competitive nous, she avoided going big with a 9, but instead focused on putting down a run that was as smooth as buttermilk. Starting with a big tail grab air to fakie, followed by a cab 720, frontside McTwist, bs 3 with Truckdriver, bs 540, and then as the cherry, a switch bs 540 which sealed the victory.




A super-stoked Torah said after her winning run:

"I'm pretty ectstatic right now. It's good to have so many Aussies out here with me. I came here to put on a show!"

With this victory against a field dominated by Americans in front of a home crowd, Torah has shown once again that she is unquestionably one of the best female pipe riders in the world at the moment. Props are due to an athlete who has the ability to raise her game when it matters, and to pull it off with such style demonstrates irrepressible talent and guts.