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Mastro lands first ever double crippler in women’s competition, upsets Kim at Burton US Open

California snowboarder Maddie Mastro, right, celebrates with her friend Anne Jackson, after winning the Burton US Open on Saturday, March 2 in Vail.
Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaild

VAIL – California snowboarder Maddie Mastro accomplished something once thought impossible to win the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday.

She also landed the first ever double crippler 900 in competition.

The impossible part of the accomplishment, going into the Burton US Open, was defeating Chloe Kim, who has won every contest she has entered this season and most of last season. The last time Kim finished second was on Jan. 13, 2018, at a Grand Prix event in Snowmass. All it took to defeat her on Saturday was a never-been-done trick.

There was lots of speculation over whether Mastro would be performing the double crippler today. Back in May, she made history as the first female to land the trick in the pipe during a spring training camp. She documented the historical stomp on her Instagram page.

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Been thinking about this one for awhile now ? ? vid: @benjaminwisner



A post shared by Maddie Mastro (@maddie_mastro) on

She had done the trick during training camps a few times since, but hadn’t given it another shot since Fall 2018. Sometimes, third-round pressure is all it takes to push such tricks into the competition spotlight.

“I’ve been thinking about it for who knows how long … This is the first time I’ve done it this winter,” she said. “On the second run, I had a completely different game plan … I was wonky on the first hit, and had trouble scrambling back together.”

Third place finisher Xuetong Cai, of China, said there was an excitement about Saturday’s competition from the very start.

“I think when the competition started I felt more energy from everybody,” she said.

Mastro said the Burton US Open was the perfect competition to make history.

“It’s pretty incredible for me to be able to do it at such an amazing event like the US Open,” Mastro said. “It’s such a snowboarder and rider based event, and I don’t think I would want to try it or land it at any contest but this.

“I couldn’t be more happy to land it here,” she added.


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