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02/09 14:53 CST Kokomo Murase wins gold in women's big air, extending Japan's snowboarding success at the Olympics Kokomo Murase wins gold in women's big air, extending Japan's snowboarding success at the Olympics By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) --- Japanese snowboarder Kokomo Murase won Olympic gold in women's big air on Monday, two days after her teammates swept the top two medals in the men's event. Murase had already locked up at least a bronze medal at the Milan Cortina Games when she went for broke on her last jump and nailed it to move to the top of the standings. She added the gold medal to her bronze from the same event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand repeated as silver medalist. She had been on the cusp of taking gold until Murase soared in front with the penultimate jump of the competition. Eighteen-year-old Seung-eun Yu of South Korea claimed bronze. She had a chance to even improve on that position with the last jump of the day, but she fell on her landing. On Saturday, Japanese teammates Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata won gold and silver, respectively, in men's big air. Japan's depth of talent in snowboarding was also evident in both the women's and men's events, where the team placed four riders in each 12-person final, more than any other nation. And more snowboarding medals could come to Japan in the Italian Alps. Murase will also compete in the snowboarding slopestyle event, while Ayumu Hirano will try to defend his gold medal in men's halfpipe. Two-time defending champion Anna Gasser finished eighth on Monday, falling short in her bid to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. She fell on her first jump and had a costly bobble while landing her second. The 34-year-old Austrian will compete again at the Milan Cortina Games in slopestyle, but she said she took a moment to realize that her Olympic big air career was over. "I was pretty sad after my second run because I knew my chances for a medal were over and I was like, I needed a second to go up and breathe through and be like, OK, this is it," Gasser said. "I'm happy to pass on the crown, the big crown to Kokomo. "She really deserves it and, yeah, crazy to see how far the sport has come in the last years." The big air final also showcased a leap forward in the daring exploits these snowboarders are taking. Murase, Sadowski-Synnott and Yu all performed extremely difficult jumps featuring 1440 degrees of rotation (three flips with a spin). Gasser said the tricks she performed to win her gold in 2022 would get you in the final, but no way would they be enough for a medal. "Women's snowboarding has been progressing every year, and I even said if you stop progressing, you're gone," she said. "It's really crazy how far the sport has come and I'm excited to watch it in four years." Sadowski-Synnott received a traditional haka tribute from her New Zealand team after the awards ceremony. It was her third Olympic medal in big air after also earning bronze at age 16 at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She became the first New Zealander to win a gold at the 2022 Winter Games when she triumphed in women's slopestyle. ___ AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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