Reigning Olympic silver medalist Jamie Anderson of the U.S. didn’t make the cut Monday for the women’s snowboard big air final, placing 15th in qualifying for another frustrating result at her third Winter Games. Her teammate Hailey Langland advanced in the last spot.
Anderson, whose three-peat title bid in last week’s slopestyle final also came up short in ninth, couldn’t stick the landings on her first two jumps — so despite stomping the second-best Run 3 of all competitors, she lacked a solid run with which to pair and missed the 12-rider cutoff.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the gold medalist in slopestyle, hit a perfect backside 1080 on her first run for an 85.50, then upped the ante with a seemingly casual frontside double cork 1080 for a 91.00, combining for a 176.50 to top qualifying and enter the final as the top rider.
Japanese trio Kokomo Murase, Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka placed a respective second, third and fifth. Murase, 17, also landed a pair of 1080s for a total score of 171.00. Iwabuchi tried for a 1260 on her third run but under-rotated, while Onitsuka opened up the competition with a sweet backside double 10.
Langland, known for her style, went cab 900 and frontside 720 on her first and second runs with iconic finesse, recording 62.00 and 65.50. She tried another cab 900 on her last run to try and replace her first score but came up short on the knuckle. Afterward, she spoke with her mom and dogs back home.
Slopestyle silver medalist Julia Marino of the U.S. didn’t start. It wasn’t immediately clear why, as one of her Instagram Stories from the day before promoted the event’s start time. The fourth American, Courtney Rummel, placed 19th.
The event’s final is Tuesday, or 8:30 p.m. Monday ET.
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