Winter Olympics 2022 - Anna Gasser claims gold in ‘groundbreaking’ big air final
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Updated 15/02/2022 at 03:14 GMT
The women’s snowboard big air final produced exceptional quality across the field as Austria’s Anna Gasser won her first gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Slopestyle champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott representing New Zealand won her second medal in Beijing and took silver, whilst Japan’s Kokomo Murase managed to secure bronze in a ‘groundbreaking’ cluster of competitors.
‘What scenes!’ – Gasser mobbed by rivals after defending big air title
Austria’s Anna Gasser, 30, won gold in the women’s big air final, retaining her status as big air champion having defended the title she won at Pyeongchang 2018.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott had to settle for silver after falling on her final run, conceding first place to Gasser, whilst Kokomo Murase secured bronze in a thoroughly entertaining final.
Slopestyle bronze medallist Tess Coady started brilliantly with an opening run worth 85 points, but Gasser went one better, displaying superior amplitude and scoring 90.
The favourite Sadowski-Synnott took pole position after all riders had made their first attempt, just like she had in qualification, topping the charts with a score of 93.25.
Gasser went from strength-to-strength, following up her remarkable first effort and scoring 86.75 on her second run, perfectly landing her signature melon grab double cork 1080 and edging ahead of Dutch rider Melissa Paperkamp - who had taken the lead after her second jump - by over 40 points.
Canadian Laurie Blouin entered the mix for a medal, cleanly landing her second run and scoring 86.25 after a poor opening effort.
Reira Iwabuchi produced back-to-back 80-plus scored runs, delivering tricks worth a combined 166 points as she breathed down the neck of Gasser in second.
She was shortly overtaken by Japanese teammate Kokomo Murase who continued the extraordinary quality on show at Big Air Shougang, scoring a huge 91.50 to add to her original run worth 80 points.
Sadowski-Synnott put a backside 10 to feet to return to the top of the pile with 177 points after all riders had two runs on the board.
Blouin went for the cab 1080 on her third run in an attempt to challenge the medal positions, but couldn’t land it and finished in 8th place with an overall score of 115.
Coady attempted a back double 10 on her final run as she looked for a way onto the podium, but was another one who fell out of contention.
Peperkamp only managed 69.75 on her last jump, but with sixth place already secured, failed to improve on that, finishing just behind Ge Rong in fifth.
There were celebratory scenes when Iwabuchi came closest to landing the first ever triple in competition, but she couldn’t hold onto the landing and despite the incredible reaction from the crowd and fellow competitors, wasn’t enough to edge into the podium places.
It all went down to the final run after Gasser scored 95.5 to pile the pressure on the last rider, none other than Sadowski-Synnott.
The Kiwi fell on her final attempt which confirmed gold medal for Gasser, defending her 2018 win in Pyeongchang.
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