United States' Jamie Anderson defended her Olympic snowboarding title in convincing fashion, winning the women's slopestyle event at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Monday.
In the two-run final that was delayed by high winds, Anderson easily topped the 26-woman field with a first run that featured a backside 540, cab flip and frontside 720, enough to earn her a winning score of 83.00 points at Phoenix Snow Park.
(Getty/Kyodo)
"I'm feeling so happy. I've gone through so much this last year just preparing for the games and defending the gold is definitely not an easy position to be in," said Anderson.
"I wanted to do a double nine on my first run and I went for it and realized I wasn't going to clear the jumps. Thankfully, somehow, I connected with my lion power and found (my) feet."
Sunday's qualifying round was canceled and the entire field moved straight into Monday's final. The format for the final was adjusted from three runs to two.
With the knowledge she was already the gold medalist, the 27-year-old celebrated at the top of the hill before draping an American flag over shoulders for her final run. The win for Anderson makes her the only woman in Olympic history to win multiple snowboard gold medals.
"Just the last couple of years trying to learn tricks and having a handful of injuries and fear and feeling overwhelmed, there's so much to process. This season alone we had all our Olympic qualifiers, so it was really energetically draining," said Anderson.
"By the time I got here and stepped down on Korean soil I was like, 'Good vibes only, no matter what, I'm here, I'm going to live in every moment and embrace it: the nerves, the fear, all of it that comes'."
It was the United States' second slopestyle gold in two days after teenager Red Gerald won the men's event on Sunday.
Canada's Laurie Blouin improved from her eighth best score in the first run to log 76.33 points for silver. Enni Rukajarvi of Finland took bronze with 75.38.
Fan favorite Silje Norendal of Norway, who missed out on a medal in Sochi in 2014 due to an illness, finished fourth.
Of the four Japanese women, Yuka Fujimori had the country's best showing with a ninth-place finish. Olympic debutants Asami Hirono, Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka placed 12th, 14th and 19th, respectively.