Gold for Japan's

Big Air Final LIVE: Gasser out of medal contention

Anna Gasser(Bild: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

Two-time Olympic snowboard champion Anna Gasser finished eighth in the Olympic final in her signature discipline, Big Air, on Monday. 18-year-old Olympic debutant Hanna Karrer finished twelfth in Livigno.

The 34-year-old from Carinthia fell on her first attempt and failed to land cleanly on her second. The first Olympic Big Air champion in history not named Anna Gasser is Japan's Kokomo Murase. 

(Bild: APA/EXPA)

  With another gold medal, Gasser would have become the first snowboarder to win the same event at three consecutive Olympic Games. It was already clear after the second of three jumps that she would not achieve the hat trick. Austria's three-time Sportswoman of the Year fell on her switch frontside 1260 at the start, putting her under pressure. Gasser tried the same trick again in the second run, landing it but once again failing to land cleanly.

"I think it will take a while for me to really come to terms with this," said Gasser in her initial reaction on ORF. Austria's medal hope had been set back during the off-season by a shoulder injury she suffered in July. "I wasn't the favorite, and with the injury beforehand, I also missed out on some training," explained Gasser. "But I always said the chance was still there. If I had landed the first jump, anything would have been possible."

(Bild: APA/EXPA)

"I can't blame myself for anything."
The risky tactic was the right one. "I knew I had to go 'all in' when I looked at the level. If I had done something safer, I would have finished fifth or sixth, which wouldn't have helped me." She said she was almost proud that she was still in the running. "I may not have been able to show everything I'm capable of. But I fought to get fit again. I have nothing to reproach myself for, I tried everything."

The medal was already out of reach before the final run. Gasser opened it with a backside double cork 1080, before which the "grande dame" of snowboarding bowed to the camera. "I wanted to enjoy the last attempt a little bit." For what was likely her last big air jump at the Olympic Games, the oldest participant in the final 12 received 76.25 points. In the end, she scored a total of 121.25 points. Karrer, the youngest athlete in the entire Austrian Olympic team and sponsored by Gasser, scored 89.00 after falling in her last two jumps.

Sadowski-Synnott(Bild: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

The Styrian started with a frontside double cork 1080, for which she received 65.50 points. She then landed twice in the snow while attempting a 1260. "Overall, I'm very proud of myself," said Karrer. "I'll work on it some more, and then it'll be fine."

Murase won ahead of Sadowski-Synnott
Murase took gold, as she did at the X-Games. The 21-year-old prevailed in a thrilling final with a total of 179 points ahead of New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (172.25) and the surprisingly strong South Korean Yu Seung-eun (171). Sadowski-Synnott had already won silver in the big air behind Gasser four years ago in Beijing. However, the exceptional snowboarder had already won gold in the slopestyle at that time.

Gasser will also compete in the Olympic slopestyle competition in Livigno in a week's time, following her signature discipline of big air. The five-time X Games winner was set back during the off-season by a shoulder injury she suffered in July. She recently left open the question of whether she will continue her career beyond the Winter Games. At the foot of the jump, there were warm hugs for her competitors in the final round. 

"It would have been abnormal if I had won the Olympics for the third time," said Gasser. "I'm happy that I can now pass on the crown. It's dignified and good for the sport." Murase is a worthy successor, she added.