Olympics-Snowboarding-China’s Su bags Big Air gold, Roisland takes silver
February 15, 2022
By Krystal Hu
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Su Yiming gave himself an early 18th birthday present by grabbing gold in the men’s snowboarding Big Air event at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday.
Su, who also won silver in the slopestyle event, delivered a stellar performance in front of the largest crowd at the Shougang venue since the Beijing Games started, with his first two runs giving him a combined 182.50.
Norway’s Mons Roisland took silver with 171.75 while Canadian Max Parrot finished with the bronze in 170.25.
Su started with a frontside 1800 tail grab and came back with a backside triple cork 1800 for his second run that earned 93.00 points and sparked huge cheers from the crowd, as fans waved Chinese flags and shouted his name.
Canadian veteran Mark McMorris did not make it to the podium after failing to land his signature tricks.
“I didn’t go in hopes of a medal, I go in hopes of landing a trick, I was pretty damn close in my last one. It’s definitely frustrating,” he said.
(Reporting by Krystal Hu, Muyu Xu, Jenna Zucker in Beijing; Editing by Peter Rutherford)