Day dedicated to injured snowboarder produces winning runs from Davis, Clark

Davis and Clark win on inspirational day

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. — The winners were Kelly Clark and Danny Davis.

The day, however, belonged to Kevin Pearce.

With signs in the stands paying tribute to the injured snowboarder, Clark secured a trip to her third Olympics and Davis won by pulling off a rare feat of landing three double-cork jumps — double back flips with a series of different twists — in the same run Wednesday.

“This was, by far, the heaviest contest I’ve ever been in,” said 2006 Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, who finished second to Davis.

Davis and third-place finisher Scotty Lago are close friends of Pearce, who was upgraded from critical to serious condition at a Salt Lake City hospital Wednesday, six days after he endured severe head trauma in a training accident.

“I had Kev on my mind and right before every run I was making sure I had him in spirit,” Davis said. “I know we’re sending vibes back to each other and it was good. I asked Kev to help me through that one. He’s not up, but we’re mentally on the same wavelength now. He’s helped me through my runs and it’s been nice to have him.”

Doctors said Pearce is slowly regaining consciousness and responding to commands. They said he is recovering more quickly than anticipated but still has a long road ahead of him.

“I’ve been snowboarding for 18 years and had never seen anything like that, and never want to see anything like that again,” Clark said of Pearce’s accident last week in Park City, Utah. “We just keep praying a lot and hoping he’s staying strong.”

Clark defeated 2006 gold medal winner Hannah Teter to make her 2 for 2 this season in the U.S. Grand Prix events, which are being used to determine the riders who will represent the U.S. in Vancouver next month.

“Before the last Olympics, I qualified last,” Clark said of the 2006 effort, where she was a late qualifier and finished fourth at the Games. “So, yeah, this feels really good. It gives me a chance to use the rest of the season to work on things, practice my harder jumps in competition.”

There are three more Olympic qualifiers this month, starting Friday with another event at Mammoth Mountain. The team will be selected at the end of January.

White won the first qualifying event, last month in Colorado, and along with Davis, is in good position to make the U.S. team.

Davis said he had never landed three double corks in practice but decided this was the day to try — a day when everyone was doing it for Kevin.

“It feels good. It’s snowboarding. It’s supposed to be fun, so as long as I have fun, then that’s what matters,” he said.