D-WAY is a gladiator. Ironman. You know those warriors from the movie “300?” Please, they got nothin’ on Danny. Despite slamming hard in practice, colliding with the quarterpipe coping in the finals (the result: a likely broken foot and other injuries), he somehow managed to overcome and take the Skateboarding Big Air silver. How he could walk—let alone take a medal—is hard to fathom.
The drama for Danny started early. After a successful week that saw Danny sticking everything in practice, on Thursday right before the finals he slammed not once, but twice, on his face. Coming into the five-run final it was questionable if Danny would even compete. But, if you know Danny and his track record, you know he was definitely gonna compete.
On his first run he missed his backflip attempt. On his second, he nailed it, but coming down after blasting out of the quarterpipe, he was off. He slammed from twenty plus feet on to the coping, taking the whole two-story fall on his shins/legs. The impact flipped Danny into a brutal somersault down to the flat bottom. Danny was laid out for a few minutes before limping off, with the help of two first aid workers, to the medical area for examination. No one was sure whether he’d be back.
“The doctor tried to get me not to skate. I basically told him he was going to have to fight me (to keep from skating),” said Danny. “My foot feels broken, my shoulder, my back—basically my whole body feels broken.”
After returning to the upper deck of Staples Center, Danny dropped in and showed why he’s a living legend. He again made his backflip and this time handled an 18-foot 540. Huge. The crowd of ten thousand plus went absolutely crazy, and rightfully so. Most men wouldn’t even have considered carrying on, Danny only got better.
Despite a great run and great score in the books Danny wanted more. But it would come at a price. He slammed (again!) on his fourth run, this time hitting his head. He laid motionless for a few moments, looking to have been knocked out cold. The medical staff again rushed to his aid, and again, helped him up and off the ramp…
It only made him more determined. Danny charged on for his fifth and final run. The crowd was definitely feeling tense as he rolled in, about to blow minds. Danny landed a tweaked nosebone backflip over the seventy-foot gap and followed it with a ridiculous varial McTwist on the quarterpipe. Danny rolled away with his hands in the air, triumphant. Amazing. D-WAY.
For the fans and crowd in attendance, Danny was the winner. But Bob Burnquist followed with his final run, and thanks to some pretty incredible switch magic trickery over the gap and on the quarterpipe, took the gold.
Danny ended the night with the silver medal, a trip to the hospital (we’ll update the story soon with his condition), and another chapter to his growing legend.
Check out the photos below, plus a video (to the right) for a visual recap!
