America's snowboarding sweep is no surprise

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But worldwide popularity isn’t the same thing as worldwide competitiveness.

As the gold and silver medalists enlightened and entertained a roomful of reporters with their take on American dominance — “USA! Representing!” Bleiler called out at one point — or their taste in music — “Communicate” was the song Teter played on her iPod while shredding toward gold, “by a band you probably never heard of, called Strive Roots” — one of their coaches counted up the number of first-rate halfpipe venues back in America. He stopped at 20.

The only halfpipe back in Poland, on the other hand, was constructed by a former engineer who quit his job to become that nation’s coach and build it. His name is Wladyslaw Ligocki, and his daughter and nephews fill out the Polish squad.

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Vinogradova, meanwhile, considers herself lucky to have grown up in Novosobirsk, Russia, where there was a halfpipe already built by the time her gymnastics coaches suggested that at age 15 she find another route to the Olympics.

“It is maybe half as long as this one,” she said wearily, nodding in the direction of the Bardonecchia venue, “but better than none at all.”

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