Gasser wins big air

Anna Gasser of Austria has won her second straight Olympic gold medal in women’s snowboarding big air. The 30-year-old Gasser held off a field with an average age of 21, including 20-year-old Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand, who last week won her country’s first ever Winter Olympics gold medal in slopestyle. Sadowski Synnott took silver Tuesday. Kokomo Murase of Japan earned bronze with a pair of 1080s at Big Air Shougang. It was the first Olympic medal for the 17-year-old. Sadowski Synnott led Gasser by 0.25 points entering the third round after both landed a pair of double cork 1080s — two off-axis flips with three rotations. Gasser was assured of silver when she dropped in switch for her final attempt at Big Air Shougang. She was the first woman to land a cab double cork 1260 in competition when she did it 2019, and she did it again here, the only rider to stomp out a trick with 3 1/2 spins. Sadowski Synnott tried to follow with her own 1260 but couldn’t hit the landing. With her big air bronze from 2018, Sadowski Synnott became the seventh snowboarder with three Olympic medals, a list that includes Shaun White and Jamie Anderson. It was the first Olympic medal for the 17-year-old Murase. Sadowski Synnott came out of the gate with the best trick of the first round, a perfectly executed frontside double cork 1080 — two off-axis flips with three rotations — that scored her a 93.25. Gasser was second at 90 points after doing the same trick. The Kiwi followed with a backside double cork 1080, which she landed clean for 83.75 points and the top spot entering the final round — 0.25 ahead of Gasser. Reira Iwabuchi of Japan attempted the first triple cork — three off-axis flips — in women’s snowboarding history and briefly appeared to have it landed before spinning out halfway down the landing. Her competitors still erupted in excitement, swarming her at the bottom of the jump as she waited for the judges’ scores. Judges awarded her 37 points.