ResulTs PhoTo GaLLeRy Audio Katie Brown Lizz Grenard Steven Hong Francois Legrand Audio requires FREE RealPlayer or NetShow Player

Core Peeled

Updated: Tuesday, June 23
SAN DIEGO -- Katie Brown retains her status as the best female sport climber in the world. She gracefully contemplated every move with slow, lizard-like precision and pulled her slender 85 pound frame to the top of the X Games podium for the third time. Christian Core surpassed the best of the best Francois Legrand and stole the title from the World leader.

Men
Italian Christian Core placed sixth in the semi-finals, but today twisted himself upward for the gold. He did it with stealth and precision gaining two holds and two points on his closest competition, Francois Legrand of France who placed second. Francois is still the World Cup leader and for some 10 years now has competed in every X Games; was last year's winner; and yesterday's three way leader.

Vadim Vinokur from Brooklyn, New York, held onto the podium after his threesome for first in yesterday's semis-finals. Evgueny Ovchinnikov who was the third musketeer from yesterday got bumped down to fourth.

"I had fallen off the last hold in the prelims and I didn't want to do that again in the finals..." — Gold Winner Katie Brown

Today's wall was not as easily encountered today as yesterday's configuration. Yesterday, the three competitors topped out and tied. Today the route went just as planned with the first place qualifier going last and each consecutive climber edging up the wall a hold or two. None completed the route and many dropped off disappointed.

The American pride today came from an Xtraordinary Ukrainian transplant, Vadim Vinokur who under his father's direction, pulled up a podium for America after the hopeful Chris Sharma was taken out of competition recently with an injured knee.

Women

	Downtown Katie Brown

"I had fallen off the last hold in the prelims and I didn't want want to do that again in the finals," Katie Brown said after her gold medal performance. The haunting thing was that Katie slowly stepped past the sketchy spot where Mi Sun Go (2nd) and Elena Shoumilova (3rd) had struggled; both women had leapt for the hold that Katie simply reached up and held. Her slow, concise, expressionless ease makes you wonder if she's even climbing the same route.

Katie's comrades on the wall, most of whom were twice her age, found difficulty near the top where the angle increased and holds were above a precarious stretch. Many lunged for the hold without success, but Katie saw another way — she relied on her footing to hold and looked for the steady step above. Her fellow teens didn't fare as well, both Annatina Schultz and Beth Reddon couldn't make it past the walls midsection.

All in all, most competitors seemed happy with the wall and said it had improved over those of previous X Games. The finals did what they should and allowed for the best to take it one hold further until only the last competitor would scale the entire wall. The men and women all fell short two holds, but for Katie Brown, it was just another day hangin' on the wall.

—Hans Prosl, 2nd place Xtreme Sun Xposure for The Mountain Zone