TIGNES, France – (21 March 2013) – Freeskier Jossi Wells has claimed the silver medal in the men’s slopestyle at the 2013 X Games in front of an exuberant French crowd. As an AFP Platinum event the Winter X Games Tignes is one of the most important competitions of the season and Jossi has described himself as “speechless” and “so happy” with his result
Wells was not originally scheduled to compete in the slopestyle event, but received a last-minute invite after Norway’s Andreas Hatveit pulled out of the competition on Wednesday with a minor neck injury. Wells’ season to date has been marred by injury and he had put very little expectation on himself during the qualification rounds. His relaxed attitude – “I was just out there having a good time” – gave him an unexpected performance edge and Wells qualified for the finals in first place.
It also gave him the confidence to back up his performance in today’s finals competition. “I just had a different mind set today,” he shares. “I’ve had the pieces to the puzzle for a while now but today it all just clicked.”
Great visibility and soft snow made for excellent conditions on the slopestyle course today in Tignes, France. Eight finalists had three runs to impress the judging panel on three jumps and three jib sections. Competing against the best freeskiers on the planet, Jossi Wells got the second highest score of the day behind McRae Williams, while Gus Kenworthy rounded off the podium.
Wells was the last competitor to drop and he put together an outstanding final run which included a switch 630 disaster on the flat down rail, a switch 270 on 270 off the flat rail followed by a smooth switch double cork 900 safety, a left double cork 1260 mute, a switch right double 1080 safety on the jumps, and rounded things off with a switch on blind 270 off to 270 on 270 off the last jib features. His great mix of creativity, style and technicality was awarded a 93.00, the best slopestyle result of his career.
“I couldn’t be happier right now” exclaimed an exulted Jossi. “I have wanted to land that run for years and to do it now, here at X Games, is a dream come true.”
Full results: http://xgames.espn.go.com/events/2013/tignes/results/400447571/men-ski-slopestyle
