Winter X Games 2015: Daily Results, Medal Winners, Trick Highlights from Aspen

We're firmly in the depths of winter, with snowfall pillowing across most of the northern parts of the United States. For most, that means bundling up, gaining a few (or 20) pounds of winter weight and settling indoors as much as possible.

For the athletes involved in the 2015 Winter X Games, this time of year means far more activity. The finest winter-sports athletes have descended upon Aspen once again this week for the latest iteration of ESPN's extreme sports franchise, looking to capture one of the year's biggest prizes.

As is typically the case, Shaun White is the week's biggest draw. He'll be returning to competitive action in the snowboard superpipe for the first time since the 2014 Winter Olympics, where the gold-medal favorite came away empty-handed. 

“The most exciting reason for me to be at X is to feel something,” White said, per David Strege of GrindTV. “I get to feel motivated. It’s been pretty unmotivating to come out of the Olympic season to want to try crazy stuff or progress.”

White will be in action beginning Thursday, so people at the four-day event won't have to wait long. The following is a day-by-day tracker of the events from Aspen, so be sure to check back after each evening to check on the results.

Day 5 Results

Sunday capped off the schedule at the 2015 Winter X Games, as five marquee competitions were decided.

To kick things off, Norway's Silje Norendal seized the gold in the women's snowboard slopestyle final for the second year in a row in Aspen, adding to another top prize from 2013 in Tignes in this event. 

Norendal saved her best for last in scoring a 93.66 in the third and final run to beat out American and recent Sochi Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson (91.33 in Run 2).

Check out Norendal's winning run below:

Christy Prior of New Zealand overcame two tough runs to post an 89.33 to finish, good enough to reach the podium with the bronze medal.

At just 21 years old, it stands to reason that Norendal isn't done winning golds in this particular event. However, Anderson will continue to loom as the chief competition, which should keep fans monitoring the captivating rivalry.

The men's edition of the snowboarding slopestyle final followed, with American Mark McMorris' amazing 96.00 second-run score beating the likes of Stale Sandbech (95.00 in Run 1) and Sven Thorgren (92.00 in Run 1) respectively.

McMorris will bring home two gold medals to Canada after his latest exploits, which were capped off in style with a backside triple-cork 1440:

In the snocross adaptive final, Garrett Goodwin emerged victorious with a time of 6:25.099.

After placing third in 2013 and settling for silver last year, it was a long-awaited breakthrough for Goodwin, who finished ahead of Doug Henry and Jim Wazny. Henry's came in at 6:31.947, just ahead of Wazny's 6:47.128.

A far more predictable winner emerged from the subsequent event. Tucker Hibbert pulled off a magnificent eighth straight gold in as many appearances in the snocross final.

"

Tucker Hibbert is the name runnin’ the game. #XGames pic.twitter.com/5LfUXXnHYQ

— X Games (@XGames) January 25, 2015"

Hibbert took to Twitter to thank his team following the historic win:

Ross Martin was nearly 12 seconds behind Hibbert at the finish, but he did pull well ahead of Justin Broberg to have a comfortable silver medal well within his grasp.

American David Wise had won the men's ski superpipe final in each of the previous three years in Aspen. However, Wise didn't crack the podium this time around, settling for fourth place in a competition that sent Simon d'Artois to the top with a third-run score of 93.00.

ESPN's Mike Wise commended the three-time reigning champion for attempting to provide the extraordinary at the cost of not scoring as high as he has in the past:

Kevin Roland was the last one to win in Aspen other than Wise, and he was edged out by d'Artois at 92.33 on his final run. Two sub-50 runs preceded Alex Ferreira's comeback in the last, as he took bronze with a 91.66 score.

David Wise now has some fuel to get back to the grind and improve after dominating the super pipe for so long. This is also a big boost for d'Artois moving forward after he'd come in 14th the year before.

Between Anderson's bid to avenge Norendal's last-minute gold and Wise's hopeful redemption, the first and last competitions Sunday fostered will be among the top to watch in next year's X Games.

Day 4 Results

The penultimate day of X Games action kicked off early with the Men's Ski Slopestyle event. Unfortunately for fans of drama, the result turned out to be the same as it has been the previous two years. 

Nick Goepper, the 20-year-old Olympian, won his third consecutive gold medal in this event, via the X Games on Twitter:

The only time Goepper hasn't gotten a gold in this competition was in 2012, his first X Games appearance, when he had to settle for a silver. The Indiana native posted a score of 93.66 in the finals, finishing three points ahead of fellow American Joss Christensen. 

According to Freeskier Magazine, Goepper is the first athlete to three-peat in the Slopestyle since Tanner Hall:

As far as what Goepper did to secure the victory, which he only had a chance to do because Alex Beaulieu-Marchand had to withdraw due to an injury, it's much easier to see it for yourself than try to describe the precision and nuance, via X Games on YouTube:

The term dominant gets thrown around a lot in sports, but it's about as apt a description of what Goepper has been able to do in the Slopestyle even throughout his X Games career. It would have been an upset if anyone else won, which shows just how consistent the young man has been in this spot for years. 

The Women's Ski Slopestyle final was guaranteed a new champion after last year's winner Kaya Turski was forced to miss the 2015 X Games while recovering from injuries. 

No one was happier to see Turski absent than Emma Dahlstrom, whose first medal at the X Games turned out to be a gold, via X Games on Twitter:

Unlike most of her competitors, Dahlstrom didn't secure her gold medal until the second run when she posted a score of 90.33. After her first run, she was sitting in second with a score of 82.66, trailing Keri Herman's 86.66, but everything came together the next time out to breeze past the field. 

Based on this picture, Herman certainly didn't seem like someone who was upset having to go home with a silver, via U.S. Freeskiing on Twitter:

Herman, a Minnesota native, previously won silver medals in this event in 2010 and 2011. It's the first time she has medaled at a major competition since the 2013 Copper Grand Prix. 

In the first HillCross event at the X Games in 11 years, Ryan Simons won a thrilling final that included David Sharp having the snowmobile come out from under him making a turn. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The victory gave Simons his first career X Games gold medal, via X Games on Twitter: 

Simons was in control, especially down the stretch, and had no trouble securing his first victory with a time of 57.154 seconds. He finished ahead of Justin Thomas (59.074 seconds) and Nathan Titus (62.591), via X Games on Twitter:

It will be difficult for anyone to top what happened in the Women's Snowboard Superpipe Final. Kelly Clark seemed to have her fifth straight gold medal in the bag after scoring a 90 on her first run. 

No one else got within eight point of her in the first round, but Chloe Kim did comeback in the second round with a strong 87.66 performance that all but assured her a silver medal. 

However, Kim would take things a step further in the third run with a stunning 92.00 to win her first career gold medal over the veteran Clark, via X Games:

Oh, by the way, the X Games also tweeted out this nugget about Kim:

Just in case you didn't know, Kim was born in 2000, won a silver in this event last year and now has a gold medal to put over it. 

Rachel Axon of USA Today spoke to Kim before the X Games started about what it's like to be a snowboarder at such a young age:

"I think every time I'm on the mountain, I'm just so thankful to be there," she says, "and I'm always texting my friends, 'Haha, how's school going?'"

Not only does Kim get to bask in the glory of her victory, she can send her friends text messages with a little more braggadocio. 

The final event of the day, which was the Big Air Final, also offered the least drama, at least by the final scores. Vincent Gagnier jumped out to the lead with 91 points early in the final heat and no one was able to come close to catching him. 

It was also a nice comeback story for Gagnier, who broke his back last year and had to fight his way back. He wrote about the ordeal in a Facebook post, via Henrik Lampert of FreeSkier.com:

"

That rail] was a whole lot steeper than it looked from the chairlift. I slid the first down part and as I hit the flat, I caught an edge, and did half of a flip to my back, on ice. At first it felt like I had knocked the wind out of myself harder than ever. But my back was hurt. It took me a couple of minutes to breathe again. With the help of ski patrol, I tried to walk back to our hotel which was pretty close by. As I was walking, I felt my legs getting weaker and weaker, to the point where I was going to fall—but the ski patrol caught me just in time. 

"

All the work for Gagnier culminated in success with a gold medal, via X Games on Twitter: 

Bobby Brown and Elias Ambuhl tried their best to move up, but wound up with identical scores of 82. Brown was awarded the silver medal by virtue of having the better top score in the final round (44 to 42), though neither competitor is likely to complain about getting some hardware. 

The final day of competition is Sunday with five medal events, including the Snowboard Slopestyle. If that's not enough, there's also a musical performance by Wiz Khalifa. 

Day 3 Results

Friday's X-Games action started with Kevin Hill capturing a gold medal in the Snowboarder X final with a time of 50.306 seconds. That left him more than one full second clear of silver medalist Omar Visintin, who had to fight off Nate Holland.

Video of Hill's win was uploaded by the X Games channel on YouTube:

As you can see, Hill dominated the race right from the start. He had a commanding lead after the first jump and never looked back. You can see the elation on his face in this picture, via X Games on Twitter:

The second medal of the day went to American Olympic star Lindsey Jacobellis in the women's version of the Snowboarder X finals. This was a much closer race than the men, with the American finishing less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Dominique Maltais.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Jacobellis' win also set two different records for most golds won by a female at the X Games and best win percentage in a single event:

The incredible stats don't stop there for Jacobellis, as Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports noted she's become a virtual lock to win a gold whenever she enters a top tournament:

Even though there wasn't a medal on the line in today's Slopestyle event, there was still high drama in the elimination portion.

Canadian star Mark McMorris had the run of the day with a score of 96.66. Here's the run that got him into the top spot, via X Games on YouTube:

However, the bigger story is last year's gold medalist Maxence Parrot finishing last with a high score of 20.33 during his two runs.

Kate Pettersen noted that Parrot slipped during his second run trying to qualify for the finals and also had a quote from the Canadian:

In the final medal competitions of the early events, Keith Gabel squeaked out a victory over Carl Murphy in the Snowboarder X Adaptive race. Gabel finished with a time of 57.168 seconds, while Murphy came in at 57.449 seconds. Alex Massie took the bronze with a time of 61.295 seconds.

The X Games tweeted out a picture of Gabel being interviewed with his brand-new gold medal:

Gabel's journey to snowboarding has been one of tragedy and redemption, as noted in a 2014 article by Amy Donaldson of The Deseret News recounting family issues and an accident in 2005 that left him without a left foot:

"

Gabel’s foot was amputated in July, and his focus became the 2005 opening day for snowboard resorts — Oct. 31. After losing his foot, the most significant obstacle he faced was getting off the pain medication that he’d become addicted to since the accident. He was on multiple types of pain medication meant to dull the agony of dying flesh. But once the foot was removed, doctors told him most of the pain was in his mind.

"

To come from that to being in the 2014 Paralympics and now winning a gold medal at the X Games, it's one of the oldest tales of how the human spirit can overcome even the biggest obstacles to accomplish great things.

In the evening events, McMorris kept his momentum going with a gold medal win in the Snowboard Big Air event, via X Games on Twitter:

McMorris came through the first round in third place as part of the second heat, trailing Yuki Kadono and Stale Sandbech. He may have been playing the ultimate game of possum because the Canadian star exploded in the final with a total score of 88 on his two best runs. 

Parrot came in second with a score of 82, while Kadono was a distant third with 66 points. This is the second win this event for McMorris, following his 2012 victory. 

The day concluded with the Snowmobile Long Jump Final. It started out on a low note with Levi LaVallee, last year's gold medalist in this event, out due to an injury suffered in practice, via X Games on Twitter:

As unfortunate as the injury was for LaVallee, it couldn't have worked out better for his replacement, Kyle Pallin. He's a member of LaVallee's team, so the success stayed in house, as Pallin had the second-longest jump in the first round at 113'5". 

However, Pallin would be eliminated in the third round as Heath Frisby, Colten Moore and Cory Davis advanced to the next round.

Moore had the bext jump of the fourth round at 164'6", with Frisby coming in second place to set up a showdown in the final round. Frisby had two jumps to move past Moore in the medal round, but just needed one by going for 164'11" in the championship round. 

As the X Games tweeted out, Frisby was a bad man on the jump:

Frisby''s win gave him 10 career medals, including three golds. He's just eight behind Shaun White's record of 18 total medals, though Frisby won't be able to match that total in 2015. It's still a nice way to cap off an excellent run in the Big Jump. 

Day 2 Results

Chris Devlin-Young was the first gold medal winner on Thursday, taking home first place in Mono Skier X. He finished with a final time of 1:03.246 in the final, which was a little over three seconds better than Brandon Adam, who had to settle for silver.

At 53 years old, Devlin-Young narrowly beat out Angelika Casteneda as the oldest medal winner in X Games history, per ESPN Stats & Info:

It was a relatively drama-free race. Devlin-Young jumped out to an early lead, which only grew as the event went on. Adam tried everything he could to try and make up ground, but he never threatened Devlin-Young for first place.

This is Devlin-Young's second X Games medal. He earned bronze in Mono Skier X back in 2008. He relished his first trip to the top of the podium, per David Krause of The Denver Post:

Colten Moore earned the third X Games gold medal of his career beating out Joe Parsons in the final of Snowmobile Speed & Style. Moore posted a final score of 90.62 and owned a rather sizable advantage over Parsons, who finished with an 83.00.

The victory was rather emotional for the 25-year-old. His brother, Caleb, died a little under two years ago at the Winter X Games in a snowmobile crash. Heading into this year's Winter X Games, Colten Moore spoke about how he brings Caleb with him on every ride, per the X Games:

Cory Davis wound up winning bronze, beating out Levi LaVallee in the third-place run.

The marquee event of Thursday night was men's Snowboard SuperPipe, which featured a great head-to-head battle between Danny Davis and Taku Hiraoka in the final. Both snowboarders saved their best for last. Hiraoka posted a 92.33 in his third run, which was narrowly eclipsed by Davis' 93.66.

Sal Masekela praised Davis' performance as a masterclass of snowboarding:

The X Games captured Davis in full flight.

You can view his final run below.

As if winning gold at the Winter X Games isn't enough, Davis' roommates back home are rolling out the red carpet, per professional surfer Coco Ho:

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Davis is the second snowboarder to earn gold in SuperPipe:

Shaun White could only muster a fourth-place finish. He posted the second-highest score in the elimination round (91.00), but the highest he had in the final round was an 82.00. White normally owns this event. Thursday was the first time since 2007 that he failed to win gold in Snowboard SuperPipe.

Iouri Podladtchikov earned bronze with a strong first run of 89.00.

Day 1 Results

David Goldman/Associated Press

While largely uneventful for the remainder of competitors, Wednesday was anything but for Maddie Bowman. The riding star captured the first gold medal of Winter X in the women's ski superpipe with a top score of 85.66, besting Ayana Onozuka by a little more than two points.

Both Bowman and Onozuka turned in their best performance in their final runs. Having all but secured gold and silver going into their third run, Bowman and Onozuka went for broke. Though it was difficult to tell at certain points, the 21-year-old Bowman turned in a cleaner ride to capture the gold.

It's Bowman's third straight gold medal in the Winter X SuperPipe. She also captured the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“When I came into these Games, I realized I could do a three-peat,” Bowman said, per Dale Strode of the Aspen Times. “I came out here tonight and thought about the skiing and how much I loved it.”

Onozuka, the bronze medalist in Sochi, earned the first Winter X Games medal of her career. Her only other major medal outside the Olympics was at the 2013 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, where she captured bronze.

Brita Sigourney earned her first medal in three years with a bronze. Bowman, Onozuka and Sigourney finished well clear of the field. They were the only three women to score in the 70s or higher, with fourth-place Angeli VanLaanen being five-points closer to seventh-place Marie Martinod than she was to Sigourney.

“I think the girls skied great tonight,” Bowman said. “We’re going to continue to push the sport.” Bowman shared additional comments via Twitter:

The win for Bowman completes a rehab process that's been months in the making. As noted by Sports Illustrated's Nelson Rice, Bowman underwent surgery following her Olympic run for a torn meniscus suffered in late 2013. The injury kept her out of competitive action for most of 2014, only returning for the Dew Tour Mountain Championships. 

That win coupled with Wednesday night sends a clear message: Not even a knee injury can stop Maddie Bowman's reign of terror in the ski superpipe.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter