SWEET REPEAT FOR U.S. BOARDER ANDERSON
Anderson extends reign in women’s slopestyle snowboarding
BONGPYEONG, SOUTH KOREA » Fighting through gusting winds on the Olympic slopestyle course Monday, California’s yoga-loving snowboarding boss Jamie Anderson proved herself without audacious trickery, pacing toward her second Olympic gold medal with a determined, athletic resolve to stay on her feet.
It was a task that befuddled all but five of the 27-woman field. Twentytwo riders crashed and stumbled through the course, leaving the few riders who could put down clean runs in podium contention. They didn’t need those daunting double corks or boggling spins. They needed to battle tornado-like gusts and stay upright.
“So terrible. They shouldn’t have run it,” said the Czech Republic’s Sarka Panocochova. “I mean, we worked so hard to get here. This is the Olympics. Come on, guys. You have more days to have this contest.”
The competition was delayed an hour because of the weather conditions.
Anderson, 27, scored 83.00 on her first run, which was good enough for the gold. High winds forced her to bail halfway through her second run. Finishing second was Canadian Laurie Blouin, who was able to put down her best run on the second lap, when winds became worse. Iceland’s Enni Rukajarvi also stuck her second run to take bronze.
With coaches on the course holding riders until passing whirlwinds settled, some athletes found windows of calm to perform their tricks.
“Honestly, I was just praying that the winds weren’t super gusty on my run,” said Anderson, who ran the slopestyle course last and did some deep breathing in the starting gate to calm her nerves after watching so
many women crash ahead of her. She spun two 540s and a 720 on the jumps.
Many of the other riders who complained about the safety of running the contest noted that Anderson was in favor of continuing with the competition after the hour delay.
“In that hour, I was outside for the whole time when everyone was in the lodge, and it calmed down dramatically, and for at least half an hour to an hour there were no gusts and no strong winds, and I was trying to keep the spirits high, like let’s run it,” she said. “Some of the girls were like no, it’s not safe, this and that. It’s not like what we are doing is safe anyhow. But after we ran our practice, no one made any complaints.”
The Olympic competition Monday was hardly a showcase of the progression of women’s snowboarding, where the trickery has been amplified in recent years with more women following men into the realm of backflipping spins. Seventeen of the 26 riders posted best scores below 60 points. One six scored above 70 points.
“It was definitely dangerous and really sketchy conditions for us,” said Canada’s Olympic veteran Spencer O’Brien, a medal contender who finished 22nd after crashing on both her runs. “It’s just a shame, because the ladies have been riding so incredibly well and the progression has grown by leaps and bounds, and I was so excited to see what the girls were going to put down today and we didn’t get that opportunity. I think it’s just a shame that we worked for four years for this moment and we didn’t get a fair opportunity.”
Even with a lack of technical tricks, the winners displayed a tenacity and athleticism, performing in the wind.
“It’s hard to be up there knowing you might not finish your run just because of the wind, but that’s why those girls are on the top of the podium — they rallied and they got it done,” said California’s Hailey Langland, who finished sixth.