Olympics
The men’s ski big air finals went down on Monday, February 18, in Livigno, Italy, for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. The event featured twelve of the world’s best freestyle skiers who competed to see who could perform the most impressive tricks. Big air events used a massive 180-foot (55-meter) jump, sending skiers into the air where they would complete spins and flips. Each skier had three attempts at the jump, with their top two scores being combined for their overall score.
The event turned out to be a dramatic battle between Norway’s Tormod Frostad and Team USA’s Mac Forehand, who traded gold medal position on multiple occasions. The event came down to the very last run, where Frostad came up clutch and won the men’s ski big air.
Norway’s Frostad ended up coming away with the gold medal after putting down two incredible runs. Frostad’s second run, a switch right double bio 1620 (four and a half rotations), would earn him a 97.00, putting him in a solid position for his third run. Narrowly trailing American Mac Forehand, Frostad finished his final run with a nose butter right double bio 1620, earning a 98.50, propelling him to a combined score of 195.50 and a gold medal at the Olympics.
Team USA’s Mac Forehand grabbed the silver medal after his own impressive performance in the event. Forehand did two variations of triple cork 2160s (six rotations), earning him a 95.00 and a 98.25 for a combined score of 193.25, which gave him the lead. Frostad would answer on his final run, retaking gold medal position and bumping Forehand into silver. The silver is Forehand’s first Olympic medal.
Austria’s Matej Svancer took bronze after earning a 95.35 and a 96.00 for a combined 191.35. This was Svancer’s second Olympic appearance and first medal.
This event saw two other Team USA riders, Troy Podmilsak of Utah and Konnor Ralph of Montana, who both competed for a spot on the podium. Unfortunately for Podmilsak and Ralph, they were unable to score high enough to reach the podium despite attempting impressive tricks.
Freestyle skiing concludes at the 2026 Milano Cortina with men’s and women’s ski halfpipe. The qualifying round for ski halfpipe begins with the men’s qualifiers going down on Thursday, February 19 at 4:30 AM EST.
