USA hopes to sweep snowboarding
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – For a while, snowboarder Jamie Anderson was able to ride and focus on style without having to progress too much. The sport that values progression had become stagnant, and Anderson could reign as slopestyle queen without having to push her tricks.
Going into the Pyeongchang Olympics, it’s clear those days are over. Firsttime Olympians Julia Marino and Hailey Langland, who are 20 and 17 years old, respectively, have helped push the level of riding.
With many riders, including Anderson, trying double corks, the Olympic year has marked a big step forward in women’s snowboarding.
For the Americans, it could mark another milestone — the first U.S. sweep by a women’s team in the Winter Olympics.
“I think we’re totally capable of it. We have some amazing riders,” said Anderson, the Sochi gold medalist in slopestyle. “And it really just comes down to one day in four years is pretty dramatic, so hopefully we’re all feeling great and we kick some ass and do our best.”
Anderson has long dominated in slopestyle, winning 14 X Games medals with five gold. But since she won Olympic gold in Sochi, the USA has developed more depth with the young riders on the team.
Along with Sochi Olympian Jessika Jenson, the women’s team in slopestyle and big air has a chance to set the mark.
“Especially since Sochi there’s been a huge increase in women’s snowboarding. It’s been really empowering,” Anderson said. “At first I kind of was freaking when I first met Hailey and Julia. I’m like, oh snap, I’m gonna have to retire sooner than I thought.”
The possibility of a sweep is likely stronger in the halfpipe, where the USA has gold medal favorite Chloe Kim and five-time Olympian (and three-time Olympic medalist) Kelly Clark.
Should either of the teams sweep the podium, it would mark only the fourth time for a U.S. team.
“The women from the U.S. are riding at a really high level,” Clark said. “We have a good shot at it. I don’t think we ever set out with the goal of trying to sweep the podium. That’s usually a byproduct of us riding well, so I think all the girls are going to focus on the task at hand.”
The sweep potential comes as U.S. riders have helped push the progression of the sport.
In slopestyle and big air, that means double corks — two off-axis flips — and greater rotation on flat spins. Langland was the first to land a cab double cork 1080 to win X Games big air last year. That’s led Anderson to push her riding.
“I genuinely didn’t think girls were capable of certain tricks, and I was proven wrong,” she said. “So when I saw a lot of girls doing more doubles and 10s, it just instead of discouraging me, I decided to let it light my heart on fire too and try to follow their lead.”
The USA likely has a stronger chance in slopestyle than big air, where Austrian Anna Gasser is a favorite and Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi will likely be in the mix.
In slopestyle, Canada’s Spencer O’Brien and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi are contenders for a medal.
While the slopestyle and big air teams will have two chances for a sweep, the Americans are likely to fare better in the halfpipe.
At 17, Kim is competing in her first Olympics but she actually qualified for the team in Sochi and was too young to go. She has been the most dominant rider in recent seasons and is the only woman to land back-to-back 1080s.
Until this season, only Kim and Clark had landed a single 1080. While Clark is working on doing two, four other riders — including their American teammates Arielle Gold and Maddie Mastro — have landed 10s for the first time this season.
Kim, Gold and Mastro swept the podium in the X Games last month, and Clark was fourth.
China’s Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu could be contenders, but good riding from the U.S. team would put it in contention for a sweep.
The USA only has three previous sweeps by men, with the first in figure skating in 1956.
The other two came in similar sports with the snowboard halfpipe team sweeping the podium in Salt Lake City and the freeski slopestyle team sweeping in Sochi.
“We’ve proven that it’s possible, and we’re more than capable of sweeping the podium,” said Mike Jankowski, head coach for the U.S. Freeskiing and Snowboarding teams. “We’re focused on the process more than the outcome. We’re focused on making sure we’re prepared each and every day to put our best foot forward.
“For sure, as a head coach and looking at what we’re capable of, I do see that as a possibility in halfpipe and slopestyle,” he added. “It’s not going to be easy to do and that’s not our primary goal, but that is something that would be an absolutely amazing experience. And after having felt that as a coach in Sochi, I know what that feels like. If we can pull that off, that would be truly amazing.”