Alright, back on the couch to watch the women’s Big Air final! It is a funny thing to show up late to an event when you aren’t even there, but I tuned in just three minutes after the televised start time and missed the first four drops. Had to get my tea and hummus, so my apologies. Mary Walsh and DC are on the call so I know they will catch me up quick through the announcing. Looks like a few falls and a few clean drops with Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi and Korea’s Seungeun Yu putting down the first 1440s of the contest and sitting in the top two spots with an 82 and 87. Mia Brookes landed a cab 1440 of her own that put her in the three spot with an 80.75, and the contest quickly started to heat up. Japan’s Kokomo Murase went huge on a backside 1440 on her first tick of the night to jump into the number one spot. Immediately following Kokomo, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott failed to land on her first attempt, setting up some early drama for the New Zealander by making the next two jumps extremely important if she wants to end up on the podium.

Run 2:

Tess Coady and Anna Gasser put up solid rotations, but neither got the score they were looking for with messy landings. Japan’s Momo Suzuki improved on her first drop with 81.75, which keeps the podium in sight. Something to note again, a lot of Burton boards flying through the air, but Salomon is also getting a good amount of airtime as these women put it all on the line. Australian and Nidecker team rider Mela Stalker missed the grab on her front 1080 while trying to back up her perfect backside 1080 from run one, but looked pretty relaxed as she walked back towards the elevator for her final attempt. Japan’s Mari Fukada kept the potential Japan sweep alive with an 85.00 on her second after failing to put one down in her first. Seungeun Yu improved her standing with a strong showing after landing a fronside 1440 triple cork and moved into first. Mia Brookes put the hands up in celebration after lacing her second attempt and moved into second. Kokomo stayed in a podium position after her second drop, but left the door open for others by only racking up a 72.00. And finally, Zoi Sadwoski-Synott closed down second run attempts with a stomp to keep her in the mix, landing a backside 1440 deep into the landing (for a mellow score of 88.75, which is the second highest score of the night so far).

Run 3:

With Austria’s Anna Gasser not being able to put down either of her first runs, she was mathematically eliminated from the podium before the third run even began. That did not stop her from putting down a solid backside double cork 1080 Japan to the delight of the crowd. A solid start to the re-rack of ranks on the final attempts. Mari Fukada was a potential threat to the podium and part of an all-star Japan squad, but could not put down her third hit and had to settle for a respectable showing in the finals. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott went earlier in the final run due to the format and re-order of competitors for the last attempt, cutting a bit of the final drop drama for the Olympic champ, but still came through with a switch backside 1260 (83.50) to put her in first and add plenty of pressure to the rest of the field. Now we all just have to wait to see if it will be enough to hold with a ton of talent still to drop. Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi was unable to put down her third and final run, keeping her off the podium to the dismay of her many fans all around snowboarding. Tess Coady went switch backside 720, which was definitely not her plan, and did not improve her overall score. Mia Brookes, who has been a dominant force in Big Air for the last few seasons, just missed the podium as well after failing to cleanly land the first backside 1620 of the night. She got the trick with her signature style but then had to revert on the snow, costing her the needed points. Falls started to be the trend of the final run in Women’s Big Air until Japan’s Kokomo Murase went huge for a frontside triple cork 1440, jumping over Zoi for the gold medal spot. She knew it when she landed and slammed into the bottom wall with a huge smile, holding her head while seemingly taking in the moment. Sitting with a pair of 89s, Kokomo only had to wait for one last rider to drop that could take away her gold. Seungeun Yu grabbed her helmet at the top of the massive drop in, already knowing she was going to at least get bronze no matter the outcome of her final attempt. It looked like she went for a 1620 but fell to her back on the landing, solidifying the podium of Kokomo, Zoi and Seunguen. And although it was a heartbreaker for nine women on the night, it was easy to see on the broadcast how much support they all gave the podium finishers. Nothing but respect for Kokomo, adding to her Big Air bronze from the last Olympics with a brand new gold in Italy.

Glad to be on the couch watching with all of you. The U.S.A. has no medals in snowboarding yet. Superpipe is up next.