After all the appreciation shown to the male riders in their slopestyle final, we were hopeful that it would carry over to the women’s event. Sure enough the standard of competition (coupled with a slightly more Brit-friendly start time) meant that the final was watched – and enjoyed – by millions.
Jamie Anderson was a deserved gold medal winner, with a run that had Whitelines boss Ed declaring, “That’s how you snowboard. I wish I could ride like that.” Fellow slopestyle champ Sage Kotsenburg was another fan of her style, and took to Twitter to tell us:
Just jumped out of my chair when @Jme_Anderson landed that run!! #Spoice
— sage kotsenburg (@sagekotsenburg) February 9, 2014
Once the dust had settled our colleagues over at Cooler, who joined us for the live blog, were quick to praise Jamie:
Congratulations to @Jme_Anderson as always, dealt with the pressure and pulled it out the bag, looking stylish as ever!
— Cooler Magazine (@coolermag) February 9, 2014
Jamie’s fellow slopestyle contender and all-round legend Torah Bright got a great ‘gram with the gold medallist. Even though she finished down in 7th, her attitude (and cab 900s!) made her a champ in our eyes:
Thankfully the judging caused less of a stink than it did yesterday; maybe people have come around to the way they’re doing it in Sochi? It certainly seemed fair on the day, with clean runs being favoured over more technical – albeit scrappier – efforts.
Jamie and silver-medallist Enni Rukajarvi were both world class, but it was Jenny Jones winning the bronze that sent our social media feeds into meltdown. As well as bursting into teats alongside Ed Leigh, Tim Warwood and Aimee Fuller had this to say:
Snowboarding just won the Olympics and I just cried Live on BBC2! If I get fired I’m invoicing you @jennyjonessnow Love ya JJ. X — TIM WARWOOD (@Tim_Warwood) February 9, 2014
I can’t stop crying! What a day. Slopestyle semis, #huckit and then in the booth going wild for our girl! With @Tim_Warwood @SnowEdLeigh — Aimee Fuller (@aimee_fuller) February 9, 2014
Lesley McKenna, the three-time Olympian who has done more than just about anyone for women’s snowboarding in the UK, was ecstatic:
Massif congrats to @Jme_Anderson @ennirukajarvi and TeamGB @jennyjonessnow Olympic podium http://t.co/bl1mSpSqYL — Lesley Mckenna (@LesleyMckenna) February 9, 2014
Meanwhile fellow Team GB riders Billy Morgan and Jamie Nicholls sent their congrats to Jenny, acknowledging all that went into her run and what it means for UK snowboarding:
@jennyjonessnow OMG!!! Wooooop! 3rd place! Slopestyle over the last 2 days has been immense for UK snowboarding! — Jamie Nicholls (@jamienichollsuk) February 9, 2014
British snowboarding prodigy Katie Ormerod narrowly missed out on a place at these games. However, at 15 years old she’s got many more opportunities ahead of her – and Jenny’s clearly given her some inspiration:
@jennyjonessnow on the Olympic Slopestyle podium!!!!! 3rd place! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
— Katie Ormerod (@OrmerodKatie) February 9, 2014
Finally, snowboarding’s newest fan Andy Murray had clearly tuned in once more, and after Jenny’s second run he tweeted what we were all doing our best not to think:
Jenny jones! Is it wrong to hope everyone left falls? — Andy Murray (@andy_murray) February 9, 2014
Once the scores were in, though, we were on exactly the same page:
Yesssssssssssssssss!
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) February 9, 2014
At the time of writing, the internet was still going crazy for Jenny. Based on the reactions, it looks like she’ll be the UK’s golden girl for a long time to come. We’ll give her the last word, via her Facebook page. Yes Jenny!!:
