And before the sun shone on the US men, there came a girl ripper named Kelly Clark, an 18-year-old former ski racer, who earned the highest marks ever awarded in a women's halfpipe competition.

Clark soared in the pipe and deserved every point she got to beat out 23 women from 12 countries.

The Vermont native, who rides for Burton, got the star treatment following her win, hanging out with Britney at Planet Hollywood before showing up to grab a chair beside Letterman.

Commenting on Clark's gold-medal run, veteran rider Shannon Dunn-Downing called the future when she said, "It definitely pushed the level of women's riding to a new level." And, maybe, just maybe, will also have a hand in turning the general public on to McTwist 540s and frontside 720s (look 'em up).