ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) ā Needing to rock his final Olympic halfpipe run just to qualify, Aaron Blunck proceeded to pump up the volume.
With a song called āTOESā featuring DaBaby blaring in his ears, the 25-year-old freestyle skier from Colorado struck just the right note to turn in the best run of anyone.
Music to his ears.
In a world filled with ādouble corks," āJapan grabs" and ābackside rodeos,ā it's the tunes that sync it all together for most of these competitors. To them, their AirPods are almost as important as the bindings on their skis.
āIf someone wants to mess with me on a competition day, they'd take away my music,ā said New Zealandās Nico Porteous, who will be one of the favorites in the final Saturday, which marks the end of the fun and games at the Genting Snow Park. āMusic is so important to me. Like, the most important thing.ā
For his qualifying run, Porteous went back in time, to the 1990s, to The Notorious B.I.G.ās song āWho Shot Ya?ā It's the same tune Porteous was listening to when he captured bronze at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Heād forgotten all about it until a month ago, when it popped up on his play list at the Winter X Games.
āI put that song on and then ended up skiing the best I ever have,ā Porteous said.
So, it remained on his list of greatest hits.
Also streaming on the pipe: MF Doom in Canadian Noah Bowman's headphones. American freeskier Alex Ferreira went with āEDMā (electronic dance music) to get stoked. His teammate, Birk Irving, pushed play on Phantogramās āBlack Out Days.ā
āMusicās huge,ā the 22-year-old Irving said. āIt zones me out so Iām not really focused on everything. Iām just kind of going and cruising and flowing through the pipe.ā
Same for Canadian freestyler Brendan MacKay, who gets into the groove with Canadian rock band Metric.
āThat was pretty fast-paced,ā MacKay explained of his musical choice. āSometimes Iāll go even more fast-paced, sometimes slower. I was a bit tired (Thursday morning) so I really needed some energy from my music to get me fired up.ā
About the time Metric gets cranking, MacKay finds himself absorbed in deep halfpipe thoughts.
āI donāt think I hear it much even though itās pretty loud,ā he said. āIām fully focused on skiing, and not thinking anything else.ā
For Bowman, tunes have been a āgame changer.ā
āThe energy gets me excited because Iām a fairly laid-back guy,ā Bowman said. "So I need that music to kind of hype me up. Iām typically listening to some hip-hop, because hip-hop hypes me up.ā
The rare exception may be two-time defending Olympic champion David Wise. He prefers the sound of silence.
āItās not my vibe,ā Wise said. āIāve talked a lot about, like, mental toughness, the ability to land runs when the pressure's on, and for me, I just embrace the fact that Iām actually at a high-level contest.
āI want to hear every sound. I want to hear the crowd. I want to hear the sound my skis make. Thatās just, for me, how I stay more closely tied to the reality. I totally get (using music) but thatās just not how I like to compete.ā
Ferreira does. Another chart-topper for him is an up-tempo song, āRed Light, Green Light.ā
āI need (music) because it just makes me feel good,ā Ferreira said. āIt distracts me, I guess, from all the nerves and pressures.ā
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Pat Graham, The Associated Press
