The best of course could handle the pressure however. And when it comes to the progression of snowboarding as a whole, the pressure was almost undoubtedly a good thing. The Olympic effect – and the idea that they wouldn’t get another chance for four years – led to a lot of the riders really upping their game.
The men’s slopestyle finals saw Sage Kotsenburg stomp a flat spin 1620 and Billy Morgan crank out a triple backside 1620, tricks which neither of them had done before. Jamie Nicholls also absolutely bossed it whipping out a cab 1440, a trick he’d landed only once before, in qualifiers, and then stepping it up again for finals by adding in a back triple.
Meanwhile the women’s comp saw Sina Candrian stomp the first ever 1080 in slopestyle competition and Torah Bright going for a 900.