Norwegian freeskier Tormod Frostad soared to gold in an Olympic men’s big air final for the ages on Tuesday, finding an extra gear under the most intense pressure at a snow-swept Livigno.
The 23-year-old posted a remarkable winning total of 195.50 to top the podium, with America’s Mac Forehand just behind him on 193.25.
But the scores do not tell the story of a gripping competition that set new standards for an Olympic big air final.
Half the 12 competitors scored more than 90.00 in their first run, with Frostad leading the way on 95.25, just 0.25 points ahead of defending champoin Birk Ruud and Forehand.
Despite the snow, the freestyle skiers were performing aerial tricks off the huge ramp that have never been seen in an Olympic final.
Frostad upped his game still higher in his second run, posting 97.00 to put the rest of the field under intense pressure.
Ruud, next to go, knew he had to go for broke but fell and Forehand climbed into second place ahead of the final round.
Norway’s Ruud, who won gold in the slopestyle event earlier in the Milan-Cortina Games, came to grief again in his final run, putting him out of contention for a medal.
Forehand, the reigning X Games champion, and Frostad were the last two athletes to ski.
The American, who topped qualifying, notched an incredible 98.25 to move into the gold medal position and must have believed he had done enough.
But, facing the biggest moment of his sporting life, Frostad produced a near-flawless right nose butter double bio 1620 to post 98.50 the highest score of the competition.
Austria’s Matej Svancer took bronze with 191.25.
Events in freestyle skiing and snowboarding scheduled to take place in Livigno earlier on Tuesday were postponed due to heavy snow.
But the big air final went ahead with a minor delay.
The snow was so heavy that staff were using portable snowblowers to remove excess snow and they had to re-mark the blue lines.
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