The women's big air of Snowboarding 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 19-22 February 2018 in the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre. With 26 athletes competing, the event was won by Anna Gasser from Austria, with Jamie Anderson from USA taking the silver medal and Zoi Sadowski Synnott from New Zealand taking bronze.
Format[]
The competition exists out of two separate rounds. Each competitor performs twice in the qualification, with the athletes with the twelve best scores (in either run) advancing to the final. The athletes advancing to the final get three runs, with the best two scores counting towards the final ranking. The competitor with the highest aggregate score in the best two runs in the final is the winner.
Preview[]
Twenty-six athletes qualified for the event that would make its Olympic debut. Reigning world champion Anna Gasser had a disappointing slopestyle result, and assumedly showed signs of redemption in Big Air. The other two World Championship medalists Enni Rukajarvi and Silje Norendal were forces to be reckoned with, finishing third and fourth in the slopestyle. The Japanese women Miyabi Onitsuka and Reira Iwabuchi showed amazing performances during the World Cup season, holding the second place in the ranking and winning the final World Cup event, respectively. Carla Somaini, Julia Marino and Jamie Anderson could be included with the outsiders for an Olympic medal.
Reira Iwabuchi led the three athletes born after 1 January 2000, with Zoi Sadowski Synnott and Hailey Langland being the only other athletes younger than 18 years old. Cheryl Maas was the oldest participant, and one of two competitors to have competed since Torino 2006 (despite missing out on Vancouver 2010), with Yuka Fujimori competing in all four editions since. Sarka Pancochova was the only other athlete to have competed since Vancouver 2010. Since the event made its Olympic debut, there were no reigning medalists.
Summary[]
Qualification[]
The Big Air qualification showed almost the opposite of the slopestyle final, with high scores and tight competition. While the virtual benchmark of 50 points showed almost impossible in the slopestyle final, this benchmark was reached by 23 of 26 snowboarders, taking any run into account. Anna Gasser backed up her expectations, scoring 98.00 points, and with ex-snowboard crosser Yuka Fujimori, Reira Iwabuchi, Laurie Blouin and Zoi Sadowski Synnott scoring over 90 points, this wouldn't be an easy task for Gasser. Most pre-determined favorites finished the qualification between 6th place and 12th place, with Silje Norendal finishing 10th, Miyabi Onitsuka finishing 7th, Julia Marino finishing 9th and Jamie Anderson finishing 6th. Sina Candrian and Jessika Jenson, who also had a good performance in slopestyle, and Spencer O'Brien completed the start list for the final.
| Qualification Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Nat. | Name | Run 1 | Run 2 | |
| 1 |  |
Anna Gasser | 88.25 | 98.00 | |
| 2 |  |
Yuka Fujimori | 82.00 | 94.25 | |
| 3 | |
Reira Iwabuchi | 80.00 | 92.75 | |
| 4 |  |
Laurie Blouin | 90.25 | 92.25 | |
| 5 |  |
Zoi Sadowski Synnott | 72.75 | 92.00 | |
| 6 |  |
Jamie Anderson | 30.25 | 90.00 | |
| 7 | |
Miyabi Onitsuka | 81.75 | 86.50 | |
| 8 |  |
Sina Candrian | 31.75 | 86.00 | |
| 9 | |
Julia Marino | 83.75 | 85.25 | |
| 10 |  |
Silje Norendal | 76.00 | 77.50 | |
| 11 | |
Spencer O'Brien | 69.50 | 76.75 | |
| 12 | |
Jessika Jenson | 76.25 | 39.75 | |
| 13 |  |
Jessica Rich | 73.50 | 74.25 | |
| 14 | |
Hailey Langland | 73.00 | 29.00 | |
| 15 | |
Carla Somaini | 70.75 | 24.75 | |
| 16 |  |
Enni Rukajarvi | 68.75 | 49.75 | |
| 17 | |
Brooke Voigt | 67.75 | 32.00 | |
| 18 | |
Elena Koenz | 62.00 | 65.75 | |
| 19 |  |
Sarka Pancochova | 65.50 | 30.00 | |
| 20 |  |
Cheryl Maas | 65.00 | 44.75 | |
| 21 |  |
Sofya Fedorova | 64.00 | 23.25 | |
| 22 | |
Isabel Derungs | 54.00 | 59.25 | |
| 23 |  |
Klaudia Medlova | 30.75 | 50.50 | |
| 24 | |
Asami Hirono | 27.50 | 37.75 | |
| 25 |  |
Aimee Fuller | 25.00 | 14.25 | |
| 26 | |
Katerina Vojackova | 19.00 | 10.50 | |
Final[]
The final had to be rescheduled due to changing weather conditions. With a "best-two-out-of-three"-format, riders were expected to keep their standards as high as possible.
Most riders attempted to go big with their first run, which resulted in Sina Candrian and Julia Marino not being able to land their jump. With Jamie Anderson receiving a good score of 90.00 points, this score couldn't be reached by the three Japanese women in the final Reira Iwabuchi, Yuka Fujimori and Miyabi Onitsuka.
The second run showed several riders up the ante, with 16-year-old Zoi Sadowski Synnott receiving a score of 92.00 points, Anna Gasser scoring a well-deserved 89.00, and Jamie Anderson following with 87.25. With Anderson achieving two great jumps, the snowboarders were challenged to go all in to become the new Olympic champion.
Second- and third-ranked Sadowski Synnott and Iwabuchi weren't able to improve their scores, and with Anderson failing to do so as well, the top three stood as Anderson, Sadowski Synnott, and Iwabuchi. With Candrian ending up behind Iwabuchi with a good third run, the pressure was with favorite Gasser. With a historic event, becoming the first women to land a backside double cork 1080 and a cab double cork 1080 in the same competition, Anna Gasser picked up a score of 96.00 points, becoming the first female Big Air Olympic champion.
| Final Results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Nat. | Name | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | |
| 1 | |
Anna Gasser | JNS | 89.00 | 96.00 | |
| 2 | |
Jamie Anderson | 90.00 | 87.25 | JNS | |
| 3 | |
Zoi Sadowski Synnott | 65.50 | 92.00 | JNS | |
| 4 | |
Reira Iwabuchi | 79.75 | 67.75 | JNS | |
| 5 | |
Sina Candrian | JNS | 76.25 | 64.00 | |
| 6 | |
Silje Norendal | 70.50 | 61.00 | JNS | |
| 7 | |
Yuka Fujimori | 82.25 | 40.50 | JNS | |
| 8 | |
Miyabi Onitsuka | 78.75 | JNS | 40.25 | |
| 9 | |
Spencer O'Brien | 51.25 | JNS | 62.00 | |
| 10 | |
Julia Marino | JNS | 74.50 | 18.75 | |
| 11 | |
Jessika Jenson | JNS | 21.50 | 19.00 | |
| 12 | |
Laurie Blouin | JNS | 39.25 | DNS | |
Results[]
Despite the event making its Olympic debut, there were plenty of athletes who had participated at the slopestyle event. Anna Gasser won her first Olympic medal, while Jamie Anderson already won her third, after winning the slopestyle events of 2018 and 2014. Zoi Sadowski Synnott, who won silver, was the first athlete from New Zealand since Albertville 1992 to win a medal at the Winter Olympic Games, and the first one ever in snowboard. She was also the youngest medalist from New Zealand ever to win a medal.
| Result | Athlete | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
 |
Anna Gasser | Austria |
 |
Jamie Anderson | United States |
 |
Zoi Sadowski Synnott | New Zealand |
| 4 | Reira Iwabuchi | Japan |
| 5 | Sina Candrian | Switzerland |
| 6 | Silje Norendal | Norway |
| 7 | Yuka Fujimori | Japan |
| 8 | Miyabi Onitsuka | Japan |
| 9 | Spencer O'Brien | Canada |
| 10 | Julia Marino | United States |
| 11 | Jessika Jenson | United States |
| 12 | Laurie Blouin | Canada |
| 13 | Jessica Rich | Australia |
| 14 | Hailey Langland | United States |
| 15 | Carla Somaini | Switzerland |
| 16 | Enni Rukajarvi | Finland |
| 17 | Brooke Voigt | Canada |
| 18 | Elena Koenz | Switzerland |
| 19 | Sarka Pancochova | Czech Republic |
| 20 | Cheryl Maas | Netherlands |
| 21 | Sofya Fedorova | Olympic Athletes from Russia |
| 22 | Isabel Derungs | Switzerland |
| 23 | Klaudia Medlova | Slovakia |
| 24 | Asami Hirono | Japan |
| 25 | Aimee Fuller | Great Britain |
| 26 | Katerina Vojackova | Czech Republic |
| 2018 Winter Olympic Games | |
|---|---|
| Snowboarding 2018 | |
| ← 2014 | 2022 → |
| Men | Women |
| Parallel Giant Slalom | Parallel Giant Slalom |
| Halfpipe | Halfpipe |
| Snowboard Cross | Snowboard Cross |
| Slopestyle | Slopestyle |
| Big Air | Big Air |