Japan’s Iwabuchi lands triple underfoot to make women’s big air history
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Under the lights at the women’s snowboard big air final, Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi made history as the first female to land a triple underfoot in competition. The history-making trick brought about her first X Games gold medal.
After a low-scoring first run, she turned things around quickly. A clean backside 1260 in her second run earned her a 40, and she followed it with a triple underfoot in her third run that earned her a 47.
Her combined score of 87 was just enough to edge out defending gold medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who won the silver medal with a score of 86.
Canada’s Laurie Blouin won the bronze medal, her first time on the podium since her debut in 2019.
Iwabuchi’s X Games debut was in 2018, where she won silver in the big air competition. The last time she medaled in big air was 2020, earning bronze.
She also competed in women’s snowboard slopestyle, where she was just shy of the podium in fourth place.
Just shy of the podium, Japan’s Mari Fukada finished in fourth place in her X Games debut.
Men’s snowboard big air
For the third year in a row, Norway’s Marcus Kleveland took home the gold medal in men’s snowboard big air.
He got off to a dominant start, scoring a 49 out of 50 on his first run. In his third run, he scored a 47.
It looked like his combined score of 96 was going to be unmatched until Japan’s Takeru Otsuka scored a 49 in his fourth run and followed it up with a 41 in his fifth. Otsuka took home the silver medal with a score of 90.
In his X Games debut, China’s Yiming Su earned a high score of 48 in his final run and won the bronze medal. He was the 2022 Winter Olympics gold medalist in snowboard big air.
Saturday’s gold medal brings Kleveland’s X Games medal count up to 11, with seven of them gold. He’s scheduled to compete in snowboard knuckle huck and men’s snowboard slopestyle on Sunday.
In his sixth X Games appearance, Colorado native Chris Corning finished in seventh place.
To reach Audrey Ryan, email her at aryan@aspentimes.com.
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