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Japan's Murase clinches Olympic big air gold / Photo: Jeff PACHOUD - AFP
Japan's Murase clinches Olympic big air gold
Japanese world champion Kokomo Murase clinched Olympic gold in the women's big air competition on Monday as two-time champion Anna Gasser was dethroned.
Beijing 2022 bronze medallist Murase led the 12-strong field after the first run at the floodlit Livigno Snow Park.
But South Korean teenager Yu Seung-eun was in charge after the second run, with the scores from the two highest-scoring tricks out of three combined to determine the athlete's overall ranking.
New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who took big air bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018 and silver in Beijing, moved into the gold medal position after her third run.
But Murase overtook her with the penultimate run of the competition, scoring 89.25 for an overall score of 179.00.
Yu, 18, had the chance to climb back above her two rivals but fell on her final jump, finishing with bronze.
Austria's Gasser, champion in Pyeongchang and Beijing, was out of the running after scoring poorly in her first two runs.
In the big air event, snowboarders launch themselves into the air from a steeply banked jump and complete as many tricks as they can.
D.Fischer--BlnAP
