Viewers have been glued to their television sets watching the Winter Olympics in Beijing, but the level of athletic talent in the 2022 Winter X Games should not be overlooked.
Snowboarders from all over the world come to compete in diverse categories and display their athletic prowess in the Winter X Games, and one person who dazzled the crowd was Zeb Powell.
In one of the featured events, called the Knuckle Huck, snowboarders plunge down a slope and build up enough speed to catapult them into the air. The goal participants in the event is to display inventive tricks and skills in mid-air that judges then score.
Powell dazzled the crowd at this year's X Games after he recruited his friend Luke Winkelmann to assist him in demonstrating one of his unique flips, according to GiveMeSports.com.
Winkelmann rode to the middle of the slope, laid down and rose his snowboard to a 45-degree angle, making himself into a makeshift ramp for Powell to glide off down the slope.
Powell completed the dangerous trick by riding down the slope, coasting on the ad-hoc ramp and skating across Winkelmann's board that hurled him into a backflip, before landing upright on the hill.
The sports commentators marveled at Powell's fantastic feat and recognized the high trust level between the two athletes.
"This is an optical illusion. It's an illusion optical in nature," one announcer said, according to the video shared on Twitter.
Twitter users were also astonished by the intrepid pair.
Yoooo what?!?? pic.twitter.com/WSNEU9q9Cd
— Mega Ran (@MegaRan) February 7, 2022
— Rabbi Dirtsheet (@Superjew75) February 7, 2022
Damn that was OD!! pic.twitter.com/WhmJY51SMX
— Spacenoid MD (@mikeNmurdoc) February 7, 2022
The arch his back makes is sick! Really cool.
— Mikey Whipwreck (@mikeywhipwreck_) February 8, 2022
Despite his best efforts, Powell did not receive a gold medal, which was given to Norway's Marcus Kleveland.
The X Games Aspen is a significant three-day event that showcases the most prominent names in snowboarding and skiing, according to XGames.com.
Powell, who resides in Vermont but grew up in North Carolina, took home the gold in the Winter X Games in 2019 and became the first Black X Games medalist. He gravitated toward snowboarding at the Cataloochee Ski Area when he was a child. In 2013, he moved to Vermont, enrolled in Stratton Mountain School and earnestly dedicated his time to the sport, Northshore Magazine reports.
