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A healthy Mastro finally lands double crippler at X Games, but Korea’s Choi wins to set record

Maddie Mastro celebrates on the X Games Aspen podium after winning a silver medal in the women's snowboard halfpipe final on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, at Buttermilk Ski Area.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The best riding of Maddie Mastro’s career remains in front of her.

The 22-year-old out of Mammoth long ago established herself as one of the best halfpipe snowboarders in the world, but injuries have made for a bumpy road the past year or so.

That’s why her silver medal in Saturday’s women’s snowboard halfpipe final at X Games Aspen felt so good.



“I’m happy. I’ve been slowly just getting back my confidence and getting back to where I want to be, so I’m super stoked,” she said. “Last year, I got hurt in December and was out …. I wasn’t really healed at X Games, and I was still hurt at the Olympics. It’s nice to have a healthy season and just get to work on snowboarding.”

This was Mastro’s second X Games silver medal, her other coming in 2021 when she was second to Chloe Kim. She also has a bronze from 2018 but remains chasing that elusive gold medal.




While Kim, the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist, was again sitting out X Games this year, she still managed to make headlines. Or rather, 14-year-old South Korean Gaon Choi did when she broke Kim’s record — by about six months — to become the youngest winner of the event in X Games history. She is also the first Winter X Games medalist from South Korea.

Choi, an X Games rookie, looked anything but in the running clock jam format that doesn’t have scores. Her winning run was a clinic on 900s, which still remain relatively few and far between in women’s halfpipe riding.

Choi, limited on English, eked out an “I’m so happy” when being interviewed on television by Jon “DC” Oetken from the bottom of the superpipe after the contest. According to her FIS profile, she has yet to even start a World Cup event in her young career.

As it happens, Kim is also of South Korean ancestry, a fact highlighted in her Olympic debut in 2018, which Pyeongchang hosted.

All the athletes on Saturday had to deal with snowy conditions in the halfpipe.

“Weather was definitely a big issue,” Mastro said. “It was very slow, especially in practice. But, in the contest, it got a little bit faster, but it was a really big struggle to try and figure out what you should do, how you should do it. It’s never a bad thing. We love the snow. It’s just always seems to come at contest time.”

While Choi stole the show, Mastro did have one of the best performances of her X Games career. She was finally able to land her double crippler — a trick she is known for and has long struggled with at X Games — and briefly held the lead in the contest before Choi stormed back.

“It’s taken a few attempts in this contest to do that, so it’s nice to finally put that one down,” she said. “What’s next for me is just to build on that and start introducing new tricks and put it all together. I’m super stoked to be able to that.”

Winning bronze was China’s Xuetong Cai. Last year’s winner, Japan’s Sena Tomita, did not compete, while last year’s silver medalist, Spain’s Queralt Castellet, was sixth.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

South Korea’s Gaon Choi competes in the X Games Aspen women’s snowboard halfpipe final Saturday at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
South Korea’s Gaon Choi celebrates on the X Games Aspen podium after winning a gold medal in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final. At 14, she’s the youngest winner in the event. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
South Korea’s Gaon Choi reacts after one of her runs in the X Games Aspen women’s snowboard halfpipe final Saturday. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
South Korea’s Gaon Choi competes in the X Games Aspen women’s snowboard halfpipe final. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
South Korea’s Gaon Choi celebrates on the X Games Aspen podium after winning a gold medal in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
China’s Xuetong Cai celebrates on the X Games Aspen podium after winning a bronze medal in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

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