U.S. in the Lead at Grand Prix Qualifiers

PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 30) – Day one of the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix snowboard qualifiers went off without a hitch at Park City Mountain Resort today and included an appearance by two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA). Over 70 athletes competed in two heats. Olympic champion Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT), and newly minted X Games medalist Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) took the top spots in the women’s heats. Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) qualified second in his heat with seven fellow Americans moving onto the 12 man finals on Friday. The weekend will be televised on both NBC and the NBC Sports Network, plus live coverage of halfpipe finals for snowboarding on the USSA Network.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Day one of the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix halfpipe qualifiers featured over 70 athletes from around the globe at Park City Mountain Resort.
• Halfpipe finals take place Friday and will be live streamed on the USSA Network beginning at 12:50 p.m. ET.
• For the men China’s Yiwei Zhang took the lead in qualifiers over Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) in the first heat.
• American Zach Black (Breckenridge, CO) and U.S. Snowboarding’s Scotty Lago (Seabrook, NH), Louie Vito (Sandy, UT), Luke Mitrani (Mammoth Lakes, CA), and rookie athletes Ben Ferguson (Bend, OR) and Taylor Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) will advance to the finals.
• On the women’s side Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) and Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) were the top U.S. qualifiers, with Kaitlyn Farrington (Sun Valley, ID), and Ellery Hollingsworth (Darien CT) in as well.
• For the first time ever the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix is a 5Star World Snowboard event and an FIS World Cup that allows for American athletes to garner qualifying points in their homeland for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
• Halfpipe finals take place Friday and will be live streamed on the USSA Network.
• The event will be broadcast on NBC and NBC Sports Network.

SPRINT U.S. GRAND PRIX SCHEDULE
Fri. Feb. 1 – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, halfpipe snowboarding finals, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. MT

Full Event Schedule
//www.irideparkcity.tv/iridepc/events/event24

BROADCAST SCHEDULE (times ET)
Fri. Feb. 1 - 12:50 p.m. – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix live stream, USSA Network
Sat. Feb. 2 - 5:00-6:00 p.m. – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, snowboarding finals, NBC Sports Network
Sat. Feb. 16 2:00-3:00 p.m. – Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, snowboarding finals, NBC

RESULTS
Official Results

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