Baden eighth in X Games after second chance in finals
Steamboat Springs — He was in, he was out, he was in, he was out, and, finally, he was in again.
Nik Baden’s stint at his first X Games was complex, but somehow the 17-year-old Steamboat Springs slopestyle snowboarder ended up in the competition’s final round. He couldn’t lay down a clean run and ended up eighth with a score of 40.33.
Baden initially thought he was in the competition last week, then was bumped out as an alternate. Hours before the preliminary round began he was back in, then, after he laid down a solid run, he was out, finishing ninth, one spot out of finals.
While he admitted he would have liked to have made finals, he said he was happy with his result.
In the end, he got that chance at finals when another rider pulled out Sunday morning. Baden was back in and competed in Aspen.
Mark McMorris won the event with a score of 96.00. Stale Sandbech was second at 95.00, and Sven Thorgren was third at 92.00.
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