Snowboarding Halfpipe
2014 Winter Olympics (Sochi, Russia) – Snowboarding – Men’s Halfpipe
Shaun White 2/5
Yuri Podladchikov 6/1
Danny Davis 7/1
Peetu Piirooinen 14/1
Taylor Gold 16/1
Taku Hiraoka 14/1
Nathan Johnstone 25/1
Gregory Bretz 12/1
Markus Malin 40/1
Brad Martin 66/1
Kent Callister 80/1
Scott James 50/1
Seamus O’Connor 100/1
Analysis
This is the worst field of Halfpipe riders in years. 13 riders will compete…only 3 are even remotely close to bettable. To the public, snowboarding halfpipe is a 4 year sport but in reality the best competition in the sport happens yearly in non Olympic events. Due to the qualifying system, several of the best riders from the USA and Canada are left out in Sochi allowing for the select few top riders that make it to coast to easy wins.
That being said, Shaun White is the favorite. He has the biggest amplitude out of the pipe and maintains a tighter run allowing him to add an extra trick into the run. This gives him a major advantage over the other riders because he has another trick to bump up his scores from the judges. White did not compete in the X Games to focus solely on competition in Sochi.
After pulling out from the Slopestyle event citing “dangerous conditions”, White has shown he is only concerned about one thing; winning the snowboard halfpipe competition.
White clearly is feeling the pressure of being a renowned name that NBC can lean on for all of their promos needing a win to validate the non stop media coverage from NBC
I think the pressure gets to White and he wont complete the run he is aiming for meaning his second best run wont be enough opening the door for Danny Davis. Davis won the gold at the X Games, publicly announcing that the medal does not nearly mean enough since White didn’t compete. Davis is loose, has the tricks the beat White with zero pressure on him.
Whites time at the top isn’t over yet; several others have just joined him.
Lastly there is Yuri Podladchikov. He is known for his signature YOLO flip but cannot put it together in big competitions. Even if he does land the trick, the rest of the run doesn’t hold enough substance tricks to beat White or Davis.
Best Bet: Danny Davis
Longshot: at 12/1 Gregory Bretz is a great value. He can do this but needs to hope media pressure can get to White or Davis.
2014 Winter Olympics (Sochi, Russia) – Snowboarding – Women’s Halfpipe
Kelly Clark 7/5
Torah Bright 21/10
Hannah Teter 10/1
Li Shuang 10/1
Arielle Gold 10/1
Kaitlyn Farrington 11/1
Queralt Castellet 12/1
Holly Crawford 14/1
Alexandra Duckworth 25/1
Sophie Rodriguez 25/1
Yuki Furihata 30/1
Mercedes Nicoll 30/1
Rana Okada 30/1
Cai Xuetong 30/1
Hikaru Oe 50/1
Rebecca Sinclair 50/1
Calynn Irwin 66/1
Katie Tsuyuki 66/1
Analysis
Save your money here. There is not a lot of value in the numbers.
Kelly Clark will win and she won’t even be pushed. The best competition to Clark is 13-year-old Chloe Kim but is too young to join Team USA Olympic snowboarding.
With her biggest competition at home on the couch, Clark will coast to the win and collect another medal continuing her dominance as the best female snowboard athlete.
Security checkpoints will be the only thing slowing down Clark meaning if she gets lost along the way, teammates Kaitlyn Farrington and Arielle Gold will be other medal contenders along with Australian long shot Torah Bright. With Kim at home, Farrington is the next best rider at the moment with Gold not to far behind. In Aspen last month, Farrington and Gold took 3rd and 4th behind Clark and Kim.
Only Bet: Kelly Clark
Longshot: Kaitlyn Farrington
Dark Horse: If you have extra cash, bet on Torah Bright. Her veteran experience is second to Clark and she has won in the pipe before. At 21/10 its high but holds incredible value if Team USA stumbles.
