Olympics
Women’s snowboard slopestyle wrapped up early Sunday morning, February 15, in Livigno, Italy, with 30 riders fighting for a spot in the finals at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. The top 12 finishers from the qualifying round moved on to the finals later this week. The event was originally scheduled for Monday, February 16, but was moved to Sunday, February 15, in anticipation of a snowstorm moving into Livigno.
Two Team USA riders qualified for the finals after a solid day of riding. 16-year-old Lily Dhawornvej of Colorado will be moving on to the final after finishing in 10th place. Not far behind her was fellow 16-year-old Jessica Perlmutter, who finished in 11th. Both Dhawornvej and Perlmutter are in their first Olympic Games. The final American rider, Hahna Norman, was unable to qualify.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synott finished first in qualifying and will be the last rider to drop in the finals round. Sadowski-Synott, who is in her third Olympics, won gold in slopestyle at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and holds multiple Olympic medals in big air. Widely considered one of the greatest slopestyle riders ever, Sadowski-Synott will be competing for yet another Olympic medal.
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Anna Gasser of Austria also qualified for the finals. Gasser holds gold medals in big air from the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, and is looking for her first Olympic medal in slopestyle. She finished fifth in qualifying.
Team Japan will have three riders in the finals, the most of any country in the event. Kokomo Murase, who won gold in big air less than two weeks ago, will be competing for her second gold medal in the Milano Cortina games. Fellow Team Japan riders Reira Iwabuchi and Mari Fukada will also compete in the finals round.
The women’s snowboard slopestyle round will be held on Tuesday, February 17, at 7:00 a.m. EST.Â
