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Tanner Hall
Everysport has an ambassador; an icon who timelessly represents the sport as awhole. Seldom will people discuss basketball without mentioning the greatMichael Jordan. In any baseball conversation, Babe Ruth’s name seems tosurface. All-Star Wayne Gretzky seems to hold the torch for professionalhockey. These athletes not only demonstrate superior talent in their sports,but also serve as ambassadors for their teammates and peers to the rest of theworld.
Thisseems like a pretty lofty responsibility for freeskier Tanner Hall, atwenty-two year old who dropped out of high school because of a drug problemand has since spent time in jail. Nonetheless, his innovative style, undeniabletalent, and controversial persona have placed Tanner at the top of his sport.Although the sport may not receive as much exposure as more “mainstream”sports, freeskiing hosts a large, and exponentially growing, number ofparticipants who are heavily influenced by the actions of professionals likeHall.
Givenhis rough background, it seems highly unlikely that Tanner could serve as apositive role model for aspiring skiers, let alone represent the sport to theoutside world. However, his recent actions on several occasions point towards anew, more mature Tanner who is slowly but surely learning what it takes to sheda positive light on the great sport of freeskiing. His greatest example ofresponsibility can be found in his response to his controversial win at the2008 X-Games.
Takingplace in the heart of Aspen, the X-Games serves as the ultimate showcase forextreme athletes. With prime time TV coverage on major networks andtens-of-thousands in the audience on the slopes Aspen, this highly chargedevent is truly the Olympics of the extreme sports venue. Needless to say, whenTanner clicked in to his bindings at the top of the Superpipe in an attempt toset an X-Games record of seven gold medals, the world held its breath.
Inhis second of three runs, Tanner performed the most technical, progressive, andstylish superpipe run in the history of skiing. Moments later, contender andformer gold medal winner Simon Dumont dropped in. Known by many as the best pipe skier in the world, Dumont boosted nearlytwenty-four feet, meanwhile spinning and flipping in a seemingly flawless runthat more than held a candle to Tanner’s run. However, when Dumont’s score wasannounced as just a few points lower than Hall’s, Tanner had officiallyclinched the victory and had made skiing history.
AsTanner took a victory run down the pipe, he expected zealous cheers from thecrowd and a swarm of fans at the bottom. Instead, he was greeted with jeeringboos and icy snowballs from spectators that felt Dumont was the rightful winnerof the 2008 Superpipe gold medal.
Whilefreeskiing may not have such a clear-cut scoring method as more mainstreamsports, knowledgeable judges with precise and detailed criteria carefully scoreeach athlete’s run. Tanner did not just happen to randomly outscore Dumont. Rather, Tanner’s run had more technicaltricks, more style, and cleaner landings.
Evenso, rowdy fans seized the opportunity to criticize the contentious Hall.Tanner’s actions and attitudes as a teenager have earned him a reputation as acocky, selfish athlete. Despite his calm, more mature demeanor in recent years,many still jump at any opportunity to chastise Tanner. Thus, Hall’s enemieswere delighted to reprimand him on live TV in the most visible contest of theyear.
Fouryears ago, Tanner most likely would have responded to the heckling fans withobscene gestures, offensive words, and a bruised ego. However, Tanner’sreaction to the controversy demonstrates how much he has grown up over the pastfew years and his newfound understanding of his influence on others.
Inan interview with Red Bull, a major freeskiing sponsor, Tanner discussed thebooing spectators at the bottom of his gold medal run. “It definitely affectedme a little bit, it hurt a little bit, but you know what? It’s all a part ofit. The crowd likes to see drama.” Tanner continued on the topic: “You justneed to brush it off and be a bigger man and just move on forward: turnnegative vibes into positive vibes and keep your mission rolling.”
Thislow key, mature response highlights Tanner’s understanding of his influence onthe skiing world. By staying calm, acknowledging the other riders’ talent, andgraciously accepting his medal, Tanner has taken leaps and bounds in becoming apositive influence to aspiring skiers. Given his celebrity status, young skiersadmire and emulate Tanner’s actions. As Tanner flourishes into an all-timegreat of his sport and a respectable role model, he is creating a very positiveimage for the sport of skiing. Congratulations, T-Hall!
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