LIVIGNO, Italy — It was the biggest of big airs. And with the way multiple competitors were landing some of the biggest tricks ever attempted in this event, it felt like it could have been anybody’s gold medal.
That’s how close the competition was Tuesday night at Livigno Snow Park for the men’s freeski big air.
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But in the end, Norway’s Tormod Frostad barely stood above the rest, taking gold by the slimmest of margins over American Mac Forehand.
In any other competition, the two tricks Frostad landed to win the gold medal — a super-stylish nose butter and tail butter with the bio spin maneuver — would have blown away the field.
In this one, it was barely good enough as Forehand’s final trick scored 98.25 — almost perfect — and looked for a moment like it was going to steal the victory away.
Instead, Frostad had the last word, responding with a trick that was judged to be more stylish and technical, even though it didn’t have as many rotations. It was judged a 98.50 to beat Forehand by 2.50 points.
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Frostad’s first two tricks were judged to be worth 95.25 and 97.00 points — about as close to perfection as you can get in a competition where the scores of the best two tricks out of three attempts are added together.
But Forehand wasn’t too far behind entering the final round after stomping a triple cork 2160 — three off-axis flips with six full rotations — and a nose butter triple cork 1980, both of which were given 95.00 points by the judges.
Assured of the bronze, his only chance to steal the gold or bump up to a silver was a final spectacular trick. He put down an incredible run — a nose butter triple cork 2160 with a safety grab. It just wasn’t quite enough this time.
Defending gold medalist Birk Ruud of Norway — who also won gold in slopestyle at these Olympics — only landed one of his three tricks and wasn’t a factor in the end.
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How high was the standard of this event? In the first round, six of the 12 skiers earned scores of 90 or more, including 21-year old Troy Podmilsak of Park City, Utah, who executed a switch triple cork 1980 — an incredible trick — but was only in the middle of the pack. He wound up fourth after stomping his third run, but it wasn’t quite enough to get on his podium.
Konnor Ralph, the third American in the final, finished fifth.
