This Finn Can Hurt U.S. Finish

BARDONECCHIA, Italy —  For Antti Autti, the ups and downs of living in Rovaniemi, Finland, are as simple to explain as night and day -- literally.

His home is in Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle, which means it’s “super bright” for half of the year and “pretty dark” the other half.

The 20-year-old halfpipe specialist helps himself to the best of that split world, spending about 200 days a year traveling for a job that truly is about ups and downs -- on the icy walls of the U-shaped halfpipe.

“So I’m usually only home when it’s sunny, in the summer, which is nice,” he says with a smile.

U.S. halfpipe Coach Bud Keene refers to “the Finns,” and notably Autti, as the greatest threat to U.S. dominance in today’s Olympic halfpipe discipline.

Autti posted his biggest accomplishment at the 2005 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. He was the final competitor and opened his second of two runs with consecutive 1,080-degree spins (called “ten-eighties”) that helped vault him into first place, ahead of U.S. stars Andy Finch, Danny Kass and Shaun White.

“I’m sure it made my name bigger in the industry because media coverage of that event is huge,” Autti says.

It was the first time anyone but an American had struck halfpipe gold at the X Games, and it made Autti a superstar in snowboarding circles. If he wins a gold medal today, the name -- and is there a catchier name than Antti Autti? -- will be recognized by mainstream audiences around the world.

But there’s a problem for “the Flying Finn.” He’ll face the same foes he faced, without success, in the 2006 X Games two weeks ago.

And one foe in particular, the red-haired White, a.k.a. “the Flying Tomato,” has been performing at such a level that everybody else seems to be playing catch-up -- or should that be ketchup?

White, 19, won the 2006 X Games gold two weeks ago after pulling off three 1080s to win the halfpipe competition. Autti was sixth and acknowledged that he’d need something special today just to make the podium.

“The pressure is on us, the Finnish guys, because we’ve done pretty good in the World Cup,” he says.

Autti, who also enjoys skateboarding and soccer, finished seventh in the 2004-05 World Cup standings, but that’s misleading because he didn’t compete in every event. More indicative of his success were four victories and two second-place finishes in eight FIS events, and a triumph in the season-ending world championships.

But, he humbly points out, the top U.S. athletes were not on the World Cup or at the world championships.

“So the Olympics are the way to see really who is the best right now,” Autti says. “It’s my first time to go so I would just like to experience the whole event.

“I just want to get my runs done and if I’m glad with my runs then I’m glad.”

What he means is, if he lands his tricks cleanly -- something he failed to do at the 2006 X Games -- he’ll probably make the podium and most of Rovaniemi, a town of about 35,000, will be glad.

Even during this long, dark winter.