LIVIGNO, Italy — There’s a changing of the guard in the women’s snowboarding big air event.
Anna Gasser, the two-time gold medal winner from Austria, could not complete the three-peat Monday in what is likely her final Olympics. Instead, Japan’s Kokomo Murase won the gold medal by executing the rare triple cork 1440 — a trick that requires three off-axis flips through the air while also rotating four times.
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And the 21-year-old did it twice, putting up a mind-blowing score of 179.00 to run away with the title after settling for the bronze medal four years ago.
Zoi Synnott-Sadowski of New Zealand won the silver medal (172.25), while a new star arrived on the international stage to claim bronze in 18-year old Yu Seungeun from South Korea (171.0).
Yu matched Murase with both a frontside and a backside triple cork, a trick that wasn’t even attempted four years ago when Gasser won in Beijing.
It led to the most technically advanced big air final in women’s snowboarding history and illustrated how much the sport has progressed from one Olympic cycle to the next.
Anna Gasser was not able to win gold for a third straight Olympics. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes)
(REUTERS / REUTERS)
Gasser, 34, won the gold four years ago with a double cork 1260. She did not complete either of her first two tricks this time, eliminating her from medal contention.
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It appeared for a moment that Yu, who made only her first World Cup podium last December, might run away with the gold medal. But Sadowski and Murase both stomped their final runs to pull ahead, the former with a switch backside 1260 that impressed the judges.
Yu tried one more triple cork on her final desperate attempt to win gold but landed on her rear end.
Along with Kira Kimura, who won the men’s event Saturday night, Japanese riders swept the snowboarding big air gold medals.
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