[OLYMPICS] Japan's Mari Fukada Wins Gold in Women's Snowboard Slopestyle While Zoi Sadowski-Synott Becomes Most Decorated Snowboarder in Olympic History - SnowBrains

"The story of the event was the snow conditions, as well as questions about judging. Livigno received multiple inches of snow in the days leading up to the final, even forcing the qualifying round to be moved up a day to compete before the snowstorm. The new snowfall made the course run slowly for the finals, with riders struggling to go fast enough for big tricks."

"This change in tricks led to some controversy over the event's judging. As riders were forced to go smaller with their tricks, judges were forced to make decisions about scores that surprised spectators. The controversy largely stemmed from two runs, in which two 720s (two rotations) were scored larger than a triple cork 1260 (three and a half rotations) and a double cork 1080 (three rotations)."

Heavy snowfall in Livigno slowed the slopestyle course and forced the qualifying round to be moved up a day. The slow course reduced speed for riders, leading them to substitute smaller tricks such as 360s and 720s for the usual large spins and flips. Judges evaluated runs on degree of difficulty, composition, and execution, producing controversy when two 720s were scored higher than a triple cork 1260 and a double cork 1080. Mari Fukada won gold with an 87.83 run featuring a backside 720 and a frontside 720. Zoi Sadowski-Synott took silver, adding to her Olympic medal total.

Read at SnowBrains