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Big Results in Big Air

The first medals are awarded in the newest Olympic snowboarding event 

February 27, 2018
By Jeanette Ferrara
Fei Maohua/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire

Kyle Mack of the U.S. launches off the big air ramp during a practice run. He won the silver medal in the event. 

The results are in for the newest Olympic event: big air. In this event, snowboarders use a giant ramp to launch high into the air and perform complicated spins and twists—called tricks—before landing. The 49-meter (160-foot) tall ramp in in Pyeongchang is the tallest big air ramp ever built! Because the ramp is so long, atheltes have a lot of time to spin and flip.

Snowboarding tricks are named for the number of rotations athletes make in the air. For example, during the men's qualifications, many riders performed a triple cork 1440. Athletes spun four times in the air while flipping head over heels three times! 

MEDAL WINNERS

Athletes in both the men’s and women’s big air events perform a total of three jumps. After each jump, judges rate the complexity of the trick and the smoothness of the landing. After the third and final run, medals are awarded based on the sum of the highest two scores. Learn more about the physics and scoring of big air events from Science World.

The women’s final run took place on Thursday, February 22. Austria’s Anna Gasser took home the gold medal, while the Jamie Anderson of the U.S. won silver, and New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott won bronze.

Diego Azubel/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Gold medalist Anna Gasser of Austria spins through the air during the final round.

Anderson had been expected to win, because she was in the lead after her final run. But then Gasser, the last competitor to jump, performed a trick called a cab double cork 1080. In this jump, she flipped twice while spinning three times in the air. It earned her 96 points giving her a 7.75 point lead for the gold.

The men’s final big air run wasn’t until Saturday, February 24—the second-to-last day of the Olympics. Canada’s Sebastién Toutant won gold, while Kyle Mack of the U.S. won silver, and Great Britain’s Billy Morgan took home the bronze.

Morgan’s win made history for Great Britain. Never before had the country earned more than four medals during the winter games. Morgan’s bronze brought Great Britain’s total medal count this year to five just in time for the closing ceremony on Sunday. 

Photo Credit: Image via ZUMA Press

Musicians perform during the closing ceremonies on February 25.    

CLOSING CEREMONY

The closing ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics took place on Sunday. At the end of the ceremony, athletes celebrated their achievements with a dance party! DJs blasted electronic dance music in the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. Athletes—led by American skier Lindsey Vonn—formed a line and danced across the stadium floor.

The dance closed out the two-hour ceremony, which included an ice dance performance, a display of light-up pandas, and performances of Korean pop music. It also included the passing of the Olympic flag to the mayor of Beijing, China—the host city for the 2022 Winter Games.

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