Sarah Burke tribute airs on ESPN during Winter X Games
On January 26, during the Winter X Games 2012 in Aspen, ESPN honored late freeskiing pioneer and longtime loyal WSF supporter Sarah Burke with a live tribute during the 9 p.m. broadcast of the perennial extreme sports competition. There was also an on-site tribute with a number of Burke’s Winter X Games peers participating.
The 29-year-old Burke passed away tragically on Jan. 19 after she succumbed to injuries suffered in a training accident nine days earlier in the halfpipe at Utah's Park City Mountain Resort. She was a member of the WSF Athlete Advisory Panel.
After winning six Winter X games golds, Burke would have been the favorite in the women’s Ski Superpipe finals set for Saturday, as well as in the Sochi 2014 Olympics, a women’s event she fought so hard to have included on the Olympic schedule. While her fierce competitive nature and envelope-pushing style will be missed, her courageous and inspirational spirit will certainly be felt Saturday – and beyond.
Summed up Swiss skier Mirjam Jaeger, "Sarah's positive attitude, her smiles, her kindness and her extraordinary skiing will be missed, but never forgotten."