Kaitlyn Farrington – The Idaho Underdog

Even more so than Sage’s win, Kaitlyn Farrington‘s was probably the biggest shock victory from the snowboarding. Like both the holy crail-er and iPod she had to come up through the semifinals, but at no point did it look like she was under any sort of pressure.

And she wasn’t; there were three previous Olympic gold medallists in the final with her holding all the expectation which gave Kaitlyn the freedom to relax and enjoy the experience. It has to be said, the women’s pipe finals were full of pretty standard runs, not many people even throwing more than a 5 off their heels, so along with Torah Bright‘s kooky style it was refreshing to see big back 9s, alley-oops and air fakies taking the win.

But she didn’t come out of nowhere, she’s been putting it down it contests for a while. Again, along side Torah she’s been putting an end to Kelly Clark‘s halfpipe domination in the last few years, winning dew tour stops and even the European X Games in Tignes last year. There is definitely more to come from her.

What did it for the world: The American dream made incarnate, a girl-next-door topping a third snowboard podium for ‘Murica

What did it for us: Switch back 7 into a back 9, what!