Struggles in slopestyle
Winds wreak havoc.
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Subzero wind tore through the Phoenix Snow Park, transforming the tricky series of rails and jumps on the slopestyle course into a treacherous, wipeout-inducing gauntlet.
Even that couldn’t stop Jamie Anderson.
The snowboarding sensation from South Lake Tahoe survived the brutal conditions Monday to defend her Olympic gold medal in the event.
“I had a lot of pressure and I’m just so proud of myself,” said Anderson, who became the first female snowboarder to win two Olympic gold medals. “It was really tough conditions today and a lot of people were struggling.”
Anderson delivered one of the few clean runs of the day in her first time down the course. That was enough when the weather was the toughest competitor.
Canada’s Laurie Blouin won silver and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi took bronze.
Of the 51 runs, competitors skipped parts of 30 of them. Numerous snowboarders crashed. Each time one of the women took to the air, they seemed as if they were putting their safety at risk. The course’s 2,263 feet became a home for crushed Olympic dreams and watered-down runs in hopes of simply finishing.
“It was really hard conditions, like almost I would say it [was like] a lottery, with the wind [determining] how you would do,” said Austria’s Anna Gasser, who finished 15th. “I don’t think it was a fair competition and I’m a little disappointed in the organization that they pulled through with it.”
Even Anderson fell on her second and final run.
“It’s hard,” she said. “We have to be so intuitive with the weather, the course, with how you feel. I’m just so happy I put one down and I really didn’t think it was going to last over to the second run. I was planning on doing a better run and cleaning everything up, but honestly, I’m ecstatic.”
Blustery conditions forced the cancellation of Sunday’s qualifying round. Instead, organizers moved all 26 competitors into Monday’s final. They each had two jumps, instead of the
usual three, because of the unusually large field.
But the wind didn’t relent. Gusts kicked up huge clouds of snow on the course and led organizers to delay the start of the event by 75 minutes. The wind didn’t calm down.
At the nearby Yongpyong Alpine Centre, organizers canceled the women’s downhill Monday because of the wind. But the slopestyle final proceeded anyway.
“I don’t feel like I had a fair shot at putting down my best run. The wind just took me sideways on the last hit,” said Great Britain’s Aimee Fuller, who finished 17th. “Some girls were lucky. I think today was a matter of luck and the strong riders definitely showed.
“But at the end of the day not even the top riders have necessarily landed the best runs. I think it’s not the best show of women’s slopestyle at all.”
In besting the weather, Anderson delivered what might be the most impressive accomplishment of a distinguished career.
The world’s top-ranked snowboarder picked up the sport at age 9 and had endorsement deals within a year.
She won gold in the same event at the Sochi Games in 2014.
Anderson’s win came a day after Red Gerard, 17, won the first U.S. gold medal of the Games in the slopestyle.
“By the time I got here and stepped down on Korean soil I was like, ‘Good vibes only, no matter what,’ ” Anderson said. “I’m here, I’m going to live in every moment and embrace it: the nerves, the fear, all of it that comes.”