Tanner got his first tour wildcard in 2019. He did...okay. it was enough to requalify for 2020, but if you watched all the stops, you'll recall that he has a few standout lines, but fell on the majority of his runs over the course of those 2 seasons.
Then he got hurt, and he took time off. In the meantime, the FWT handed wildcards to Max Palm and Max Hitzig. One of them landed the first ever double flip in FWT history, and then did it again. The other one put down one of the most impressive runs that Fieberbrunn has ever seen.
And this year, they threw Tanner another spot, because they know it will boost views. And I think it's kinda lame. We've seen the level of progression and innovation that new athletes are bringing to the tour. To me, it's much more refreshing and exciting to watch a young, unpredictable fireball than to see Tanner fighting for his 10th comeback career or whatever. And this isn't an insult to Tanner's skiing, he has unquestionably transformed our sport, and he reliably still throws down. I just think that if he really wants to prove himself, he should qualify for the tour in the FWQ circuit like almost everyone else, instead of punching the ticket that could have been used to bring a unique, unseen perspective to the tour.
Thoughts?
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