Canadian Laurie Blouin just misses the podium on an otherwise perfect day for snowboarding

Opinion

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This article was published 05/02/2022 (1337 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING Four years ago in Pyeongchang, when Laurie Blouin won a silver medal for Canada in the women’s snowboard slopestyle, none of the competitors in the field, including the medallists, came away wholly thrilled with the circumstances.

Incessantly high winds on the South Korean course had produced a bevy of nasty crashes and aborted runs. Blouin waved to the crowd from the podium sporting a black eye and a cut on her cheek, a remnant of her goggles digging into her face a few days earlier during a scary crash in training that saw her stretchered from the snow. Steel-nerved athletes who make it their life’s work to defy danger were describing the situation as “terrifying” and “a (bleep)show.”

Qualifying had to be cancelled. The final was modified from three runs to two. And there was disappointment from some corners that the event went ahead. Certainly such a persistent gale wasn’t conducive to showcasing to the world a nascent event like women’s slopestyle, which first appeared on the Olympic calendar in 2014.

As Blouin’s fellow Canadian competitor Brooke Voigt said that day: “Picture holding an umbrella in the wind. That’s your snowboard.”

So you’ll imagine the contentment of the women’s slopestyle field on Sunday morning here, when the winds that have been blowing persistently on these raw mountaintops northwest of Beijing calmed to the point of being a nonfactor. It was still uncomfortably cold — minus-14 C — as the world’s best boarders contested the three-run final. But the sun was out and the artificial snow was expertly groomed. Blouin called it a “perfect day” for the world’s best boarders to show their stuff.

“No wind, blue (sky),” Blouin said. “Today was the best day, honestly.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly that for Blouin, whose minor mistake during her best performance of the three-run final left her in fourth place.

So as New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott cemented her status as the event’s top performer with a gold-medal final run that left her competitors agog — and as Julia Marino of the United States and Tess Coady of Australia did enough to win silver and bronze, respectfully — Blouin had to settle for that cruelest of Olympic finishing positions, one off the podium.

“I’ve got mixed feelings,” Blouin said. “I’m proud. I know it’s a mistake that cost the podium. But it happens, and that’s part of the sport.”

The day belonged to Sadowski-Synnott (whose first name is pronounced Zoe), the 20-year-old many consider to be the best snowboarder on the planet. Four years ago in South Korea, when Sadowski-Synnott won silver in big air at the tender age of 16, she became just the second New Zealander to win a medal at a Winter Olympics. A year later, she won the slopestyle title at the world championships.

Sadowski-Synnott is an Australian by birth, born to a Kiwi father and an American mother, who lives in Wanaka, New Zealand’s winter sports capital. But she’s got at least a tangential tie to Canada. As a girl her family regularly vacationed in Whistler, B.C. She first learned to ski there, switching to snowboarding at age nine. Her dad and mom, Sean and Robyn, first met there. So she enjoyed the benefit of a steady dose of winter, all year round, swapping from southern to northern hemisphere with the snow.

“Coming into these Games after winning bronze the last go-round at Pyeongchang, I definitely feel a bit of pressure but it’s all good,” Sadowski-Synnott said in the lead-up to the Games. “I love the pressure now that I’m one to watch because I’ve done so well in the last two years, which I’m super stoked on.”

On Sunday, Sadowski-Synnott came into the final run guaranteed a medal. But it was Marino occupying first place. The New Zealander would need a monster performance to claim the gold. And sure enough, she provided it, unfurling a spectacular trick on the ultimate jump to seal the deal.

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“That was crazy. She deserves (gold),” Blouin said. “She rode super well, and she went massive on the last jump. That was crazy to watch. She was guaranteed (a medal) but I think she wanted the win. So she still had to put a bigger run down. It was so sick to watch.”

In a testament to the camaraderie of the sport, when Sadowski-Synnott landed in the finishing area she was immediately mobbed by Marino and Coady, no matter that Marino had just seen gold slip from her grasp.

Moments later, the bulk of the competitors were engaged in a celebratory group hug. Four years after they’d been deprived of the chance to show the world the majesty of their skills, Sunday provided a stage they could all warm up to.

“It says a lot. We’re all friends. Yes, we’re competing against each other. But that’s what I like about snowboarding. We’re just all friends, cheering for each other,” Blouin said. “And that’s what makes snowboarding. It’s chill, and we’re all stoked for each other … It means a lot. We showcased to the world what women’s snowboarding is, really.”

Dave Feschuk is a Toronto-based sports columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @dfeschuk