The French Connection

Rolland Wins Skiing SuperPipe in Convincing Fashion

Aspen, Colo. - The snow began to fall on the final night of Winter X Games 14, giving the perfect back drop to Kevin Rolland's gold medal performance in his second run.

The Skiing SuperPipe gold medal run included a double flip with a mute grab, an alley-oop 360, a double flair left to a double flair right and concluded with a double cork 1260 - an amazing three double flips - scoring a 95.00 and the victory.

"I can't believe it," an ecstatic Rolland said.  "It is huge, it is amazing and a dream come true.  I have never landed three doubles.  I am so happy; this is such a good feeling.  I won the X Games, this is a dream come true."

Second place went to New Zealand's Jossi Wells with a score of 92.00.

"I am happy with how I skied," Wells said.  "I was most excited about my double flip and I couldn't be more stoked for second place right now."

France was not only represented in first place, but third place as well with Rolland's fellow countryman and last year's gold medalist, Xavier Bertoni, grabbing the bronze.

The Skiing SuperPipe event at the Winter X Games represents the progression of the sport and showcases the best pipe riders in the world.  The 567-foot long, 22-foot deep "U-shaped" SuperPipe is 66 feet from lip-to-lip with a pitch of 18 degrees.  This translates into maximum amplitude and speed for the athletes to perform their tricks.

For Winter X Games media information, including press releases, logos and additional images from past events, log on to www.espneventmedia.com. To view medalist runs, visit the Winter X Games You Tube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/xgames and follow the X Games on Twitter at Twitter.com/espnxgames

WINTER X GAMES 14

The 14th annual winter action sports competition will feature more than 250 men and women from across the globe competing for medals and prize money in the following sports: Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile. The event includes day and evening competitions and is free to the public. This will be the ninth consecutive Winter X Games that Buttermilk Mountain at Aspen/Snowmass has hosted.

ESPN and ESPN2 will televise 24 ½ hours of LIVE high-definition programming Jan. 28-Jan 31. ESPN2 will present daily late-night highlight programs in HD from Jan. 28-Jan. 31, resulting in eight additional hours of HD programming for Winter X Games 14. Additionally, the Winter X Games will also be televised on ESPN's International networks to 172 countries and territories in Latin America, the Pacific Rim, Middle East, Africa, Israel and Canada.

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                        Alex Rozis (Broadcast/International media), 415-609-0949, alex.a.rozis@espn.com

                        Danny Chi, (Print Media), 310-500-5699, danny.c.chi@espn.com

                        Crystal Yang (Radio Media), 310-491-6735, crystal.j.yang@espn.com