Slopestyle, Women

A relatively new discipline, PyeongChang 2018 was just the second time that slopestyle, one of the most high-flying, entertaining events of the Games, had been on the Olympic programme, having made its début at Sochi 2014.

Two favourites to take the title were American Jamie Anderson, who was looking to defend her Olympic gold medal from Sochi, and Austria’s Anna Gasser, the 2015 World Championships slopestyle silver medalist (also 2017 big air World champion). Missing from the competition was New Zealand’s Christy Prior whose knee injury had her Olympic qualification campaign starting too late in the season.

The qualifying portion of the women’s snowboard slopestyle competition originally scheduled for 11 February had been cancelled due to strong winds at the Phoenix Snow Park complex and all competitors advanced to the final. They competed in a two-run final round instead of the typical two-run qualification round and three-run final round.

On the day of the final, the athletes were ordered by world ranking, which allowed Anderson, No. 1 in the world, the opportunity to go last. The conditions had actually deteriorated up high on the mountain with the starting time delayed for more than an hour. In dangerously windy conditions, some riders just coasted to the bottom, with 41 of 50 runs seeing riders crash or pull up on jumps. Of the 25 athletes, only five managed to stay on their feet during the first run and no one recorded two clear runs.

Despite the horrendous and bitterly cold conditions, Anderson’s first run score of 83 held up for gold, successfully defending her 2014 Olympic title with a score that would have placed seventh in Sochi. She finished nearly seven points ahead of silver medalist Laurie Blouin from Canada. Finland’s Enni Rukajärvi, the 2011 World champion and 2014 silver medalist, won the bronze. The silver and bronze medal scores would have failed to qualify in the 2014 Olympics.