SNOWBOARD: Beijing 2022 bronze medallist Tess Coady and Matt Cox are ready for their second Olympic event as they line up in the high intensity and thrilling snowboard big air.
Tess comes into the event with an Olympic bronze medal under her belt from the slopestyle competition and will be looking to add to her collection in the big air.
She will come up against good friend and New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who took out gold in the slopestyle last week and is looking to become the first snowboarder to win the X Games, plus gold medals in slopestyle and big air at the Olympics all in the same year.
For Matt, he’ll be looking to better his slopestyle result and want to qualify through to the final of the big air. It will be an all-star field he faces, including Canada’s Mark McMorris who is aiming to become the first snowboarder to win four Olympic medals. He is in great form after already claiming his third consecutive Olympic slopestyle bronze medal last week. McMorris’ Canadian teammate Sebastien Toutant will be looking to win back-to-back gold medals in the big air, after he took out the PyeongChang 2018 debut event.
Big air features athletes sliding down a large ramp and performing various gravity-defying tricks and twists. The relatively new Olympic event is popular with athletes in part because ramps can be temporarily installed at fun, urban locations which makes it more accessible to spectators.
Shougang's undulating 64-metre high and 164-metre long ramp will remain in place after the Games, making it the world's first permanent big air venue.
The snowboard big air qualifying gets underway on Monday 14 February from 12:30pm AEDT on Channel 7 or 7plus.
Lauren Ryan
#HaveAGo
Snowboard
CAN YOU SNOWBOARD IN AUSTRALIA?
Yes! There are 10 Ski Resorts in Australia that are easy to access.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Snowboarding is very affordable to #HaveAGo. You can rent all the equipment you need which is a low-cost way to try snowsports.
WHAT KIT DO I NEED?
All you need is a snowboard, snowboard boots, helmet, snow jacket, gloves and pants. All these items can be rented from snowboard shops to help get you started without having to buy everything for your first time.
