Austria’s Anna Gasser defends gold medal in Olympic big air

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Gold medallist Austria's Anna Gasser poses on the podium during the snowboard women's big air victory ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Beijing Medals Plaza in Beijing on February 15, 2022. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP) (Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Austria’s Anna Gasser took home gold Tuesday, defending her Olympic snowboarding big air title.

The 30-year-old landed a colossal cab 1260 on her last jump to move into first place, knocking Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand into second place.

Sadowski-Synnott led Gasser by .25 points heading into the third and final round, but the Austrian threw down an untouchable cab double cork 1260 to secure her second-straight gold in the event.

Japan’s Kokomo Murase rounded out the podium, earning a bronze medal with a score of 91.50 on her second run.

Heading into Beijing, Gasser wasn’t the heavy favorite she was in PyeongChang, with the competition pushing the Austrian until her third run.

“This time I was feeling it is going to be hard to get on the podium, but I was going to show my best,” she said. “This one feels way more unexpected.”