2021 Winter Dew Tour lookback Day 3

Day 3 had an early start with Women’s Ski Superpipe finals taking place in the morning. The crowd was sparse again, but that was everyone else’s loss since the athletes still gave it their all. Defending gold medalist Cassie Sharpe was coming off an injury and had some tough luck.

It was nice seeing Cassie back in action after her injury.

I was stoked to spot some unfamiliar names, two being Chinese: Kexin Zhang and Fanghui Li. I think it made my parents more interested. American teen Hanna Faulhaber was another newcomer although by how high she went and how solid all her tricks were, she seemed like an old pro. She took home bronze and would definitely be one to watch in the future. Even if the media did hype up a rivalry between Kelly Sildaru and Eileen Gu like they did in the past with Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont, the two women were going to run in to each a lot all weekend, as they were both competing in all three events. Eileen went bigger, and her insistence on always bettering her own runs helped secure the top spot.

eXponential Awards – 2022 Beijing Olympics

The 2022 Winter Olympics are over, as are the Paralympics. The Olympics have always been controversial to action sports, but this time, it was even more so with the politics surrounding it. Being Taiwanese-American with one of my grandparents being from China, I have a lot of complicated opinions. However, I also believe that there is a space for athletes to pursue their dreams and this ethos of sport is unifying. That doesn’t mean this Olympics wasn’t full of drama and controversy, and I don’t even cover it all here. Nevertheless here are some of my top moments.

Best Female Athlete – Eileen Gu (Ski)

Photo by VCG (Getty Images)

Was there a bigger star of this Winter Olympics than Eileen Gu? Okay maybe Nathan Chen is up there, but Eileen did three completely different events and launched a dialogue about U.S.-China relations and Chinese-American identity. Regardless of your opinion on those matters, she is a badass skier who now has three Olympic medals (with two being gold) and a double cork 1620 under her belt.

Best Male Athlete – Ayumu Hirano (Snowboard)
Talk about cool under pressure. Ayumu Hirano didn’t just throw down the first triple cork within a full pull, but he did it twice. . . after getting a score he (and many others) was not happy about. He could have let frustration get to him, but he channeled his anger towards a cleaner run. And we can’t forget about his “sleepy style”. Ayumu made everything, including his NBD, effortless, epitomizing what it meant to be a true champion athlete.