Sun Valley native Graham Watanabe competes today in Snowboard Cross at the Vancouver Olympics. Current schedule for the events is as follows (all times are Mountain):
- 11:30 am Qualification
- 3:00 pm 1/8 Finals
- 3:26 pm Quarterfinals
- 3:42 pm Semifinals
- 3:53 pm Finals
Update 1: After the 1st round of qualifying, Watanabe is the 9th fastest qualifier and 2nd fastest American. He's 1.08 seconds behind the fastest qualifier (Alex Pullin of Australia). X-Games Winner Nate Holland (Sandpoint, Idaho native) was the fastest American qualifying in 4th position. Other Americans Nick Baumgartner and Seth Wescott qualified in 11th and 26th respectively. Wescott had a wipeout in his 1st run.
Update 2: Most of the way through the 2nd qualifying round, Watanabe has the 2nd fastest time of all of the riders. Only the Australian has a faster run. Wescott qualified for the round of 32 in his 2nd run. Nate Holland's first run was fastest enough to qualify him for the round of 32 but he went off the course during his 2nd run. Nick Baumgartner also qualified for the round of 32 with the 6th fastest time. Wescott uses local Curtis Bacca as his wax tech who was featured in an NBC profile during the qualifying round. He explained the factors that go into selection of wax.
Update 3: Watanabe is the last of 8 heats in the round of 32. Wescott is in the 1st heat with the fastest qualifier.
Bio information courtesy of US Ski & Snowboard
Visit Graham Watanabe's Website
HIGHLIGHTS
- Olympic Winter Games: 2006
- Worlds: 2005, 2007
- 2009: Third World Cup victory (Sunday River, Maine)
- 2009: X Games silver medalist
- 2008: Second World Cup victory (Japan)
- 2007: 5th at U.S. champs
- 2007: 4th at New Zealand champs
- 2005: 1st at Valle Nevado World Cup
- 2004: 1st at South American Cup - Chile
- 2003: 1st at Aspen NorAm (PSL)
BIOGRAPHY
A member of the U.S. Alpine snowboarding team in 2000, Graham Watanabe has a background in racing, but switched full-on to snowboardcross with the Olympic announcement. At the start of the 2005 season he jumped on the opportunity for a trip to Chile with friend Nate Galpin. The trip proved profitable when he boosted his World Cup career in a big way, winning the opening SBX event in Chile to become the first American man ever to win a World Cup SBX. He turned that into a solid season on the World Cup tour and an eventual ticket to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.
UPDATE
Watanabe had the intimidation factor in 2009 as he pulled in successful results consistently. The ninja had three World Cup top-10 finishes, but capped it off big time with a win in the USA to please the home crowd in Sunday River, Maine. Thanks to his success there as well as a second place at the first stop of the Visa Snowboardcross Championship Series at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Boreal Resort in Calif. The icing on Watanabe's season: a silver medal at the winter X Games.
FIRST TRACKS
Lucky for Graham, Mr. Watanabe (VP of Scott Motorsports) fits into the cool dad department. "My dad asked my bro and I to give snowboarding a try and it stuck." A good buddy of his then started to compete and he went along for the ride. Like any good addiction, success led to motivation.
FIRST WORLD CUP
December 6, 2001 - 31st in SBX at Whistler, B.C.
OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES/WORLDS
2007 Worlds - 38th SBX
2006 Olympic Winter Games - 31st SBX
2005 Worlds - 19th SBX
I AM
Hoping to become multi-lingual. "I'd like to, eventually, learn at least three languages in addition to English. My philosophy is just to keep a general level of fitness, but mostly to do that by doing the things that I love. Fortunately for me, that includes most, if not all/any athletic activity. Those I tend to do most often are: road/mountain biking, rock climbing, soccer, weight lifting, yoga, and golf." Hero: "My dad's my hero because he's achieved great successes, but maintains a healthy perspective on who and what is important in his life. He maintains a healthy lifestyle that balances working hard and playing hard. He's also loved and respected by all who have met him because of his genuine, pleasant nature." Favorite restaurant is Chuck-E-Cheese.
Event: Snowboardcross
Height: 5-6
Weight: 150 lbs
Birthplace: Hailey, Idaho
School: Westminster College
Club: U.S. Snowboarding, Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation
Here is my contact information: Patti
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