Kelly Clark wins SuperPipe for Aspen four-peat

ByCOLIN BANE
January 26, 2014, 3:00 AM

— -- ASPEN, Colo. -- Kelly Clark scored an X Games Aspen four-peat in Snowboard SuperPipe and won her 12th career X Games medal Saturday, becoming the most decorated female athlete in X Games history.

"I think it's one of the best events of the year, coming here to X Games and getting to showcase our snowboarding and take women's snowboarding forward," Clark said. "It's been one of my privileges to be part of that."

Clark's first of three runs, which featured the only 1080 in the field, was enough to hang on to the lead. She spent her next two runs attempting to add a Cab 1080 to her performance but did not improve on her first-run score of 95. Clark, who was the top qualifier for the U.S. Olympic women's halfpipe team, will be a gold-medal favorite at the upcoming Sochi Olympic Games.

Thirteen-year-old X Games rookie Chloe Kim briefly led the field Saturday, scoring 93 in her first run thanks to tremendous amplitude and big tricks like a frontside 720 truck driver. She fell in her second run, then improved to 94.33 in her final run, adding a frontside 900 and bumping into silver-medal position ahead of bronze medalist Kaitlyn Farrington. With the silver, Kim became the youngest medalist in X Games winter event history.

"They're very inspirational," Kim said about her fellow competitors. "To be on the podium with them is just so exciting and awesome."

Kim is too young to be eligible for the 2014 Olympics but has been making a big splash this season with podium finishes at recent Grand Prix and Dew Tour events.

"Whenever I decide to leave, it's going to be in good hands," Clark said about the future of women's snowboarding.

Saturday was an emotional night for four-time X Games gold medalist and Aspen native Gretchen Bleiler, who announced her retirement this week and said this will be her last X Games.

"I'm so grateful to this crowd here in Aspen," Bleiler said. "Thank you for always cheering me on."