4 Olympic Medals for TTR Champions

TTR Pro Snowboard, the owner and operator of the TTR World Snowboard Tour would like to congratulate the 2010 Vancouver Olympics halfpipe winners, Shaun White (USA) for his second consecutive gold medal, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) for taking home the silver medal, and Scotty Lago (USA) for his bronze. White won the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2006/2007, after claiming his first Olympic gold in Torino 2006, showing himself as one of the world’s strongest snowboarders. Piiroinen was crowned the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Champion 2008/2009 last winter and has shown his force in the competition scene yet again with his Olympic silver. As the current leader in the Swatch TTR ranking he is heading towards the first ever repeat performance of the tour victory.

Congratulations go out as well to the female medallists Torah Bright (AUS), Hanna Teter (USA) and Kelly Clark (USA) who are also familiar from their successes on the Swatch TTR Tour. Gold medallist Bright has since her TTR World Snowboard Champion win in 2006/2007 proved to be one of the most progressive female riders, pushing the bar of both slopestyle and halfpipe riding. In her merits counts winning several titles at events like the Burton US Open halfpipe in 2008 and 2009 while bronze medallist Kelly Clark claimed the TTR World Snowboard Champion Title in 08/09 and is a consistent force at TTR events halfpipe formats.

TTR Events Serving as a Pre Olympic battleground.
During the onset of the Olympic buzz the TTR tour felt the impact, as it was the first place where athletes had an opportunity to measure the new benchmark trick – the double cork – in competition. This season, to the delight of both judges and audiences alike, we have seen the riders develop a wide variety of double corks, showcasing them at various tour events. This brain boggling trick emerged into TTR halfpipe competition at the beginning of the 2009/2010 TTR Season where Shaun White for the first time ever unleashed a back to back double cork set in order to beat Luke Mitranis’s (USA) Double Cork 900 in the 5Star Burton New Zealand Open halfpipe. The explosive development of this trick has been seen at many TTR events since, such as the halfpipe formats of the 6Star O’Neill Evolution and the 6Star Burton European Open, where Piiroinen landed a Cab Double Cork 10 on his final run and jumped into the competition lead.

Managing the time between the TTR Tour and the Olympics
Every fourth winter the Olympic year sees a rush of riders to the FIS (Fédération Internationale de Ski) World Cup, which serves as Olympic qualifier. The TTR respects the athletes’ wishes to succeed in the Olympic battles and has always found a way to accommodate for this in the tour planning. Most riders are able to divide their time between both the tours, such as current TTR leader Peetu Piiroinen who has managed his Olympic commitments while taking podiums at nearly every event and format he has competed in season 2009/2010. The Swatch TTR season is still in full swing with the next events coming up in Italy, the 5Star Burn River Jump, and in Norway with the 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge. The tour final events 6Star Burton US Open and the 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam are coming up in March and will showcase the crowning of the 2009/10 Swatch TTR World Snowboard Champion.

The Top achievements of the Olympic Medallists:
Shaun White
2009, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 5Star Burton New Zealand Open
2009, 1st Place, Overall, 5Star Intelligent Design
2009, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships
2008, 1st Place, Halpipe, 6Star Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships

Peetu Piiroinen
2010, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton European Open
2010, 1st Place, Slopestyle, 6Star Burton European Open
2009, 2nd place, Big Air, 6Star Billabong Air & Style Innsbruck
2009, 2nd Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships
2009, 1st Place, Quarterpipe, 6Star O’Neill Evolution

Torah Bright
2009, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships
2008, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships
2008, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 5Star Nissan X-TRail Asian Open
2008, 2nd Place, Halfipe, 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam US

Kelly Clark
2010, 1st place, Halfpipe, 5Star Burton New Zealand Open
2009, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton European Open
2009, 1st Place, Halfpipe, 5Star Nissan X-TRail Asian Open
2009, 1st Place, Halfipe, 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam US
2009, 2nd Place, Halfpipe, 6Star Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships

Want to know more about TTR?
You can find all the information about events and athletes on the Swatch TTR Tour, as well as photos and videos from events on www.ttrworldtour.com. Each rider has their own TTR profile with photos and information.

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