Olympic Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom Qualifying 2018 Live-Stream Schedule

One of the the most intriguing snowboarding events of the 2018 Winter Olympics gets under way on Thursday with the qualifying and elimination rounds of the men's and women's parallel giant slalom.

Unlike the slopestyle, big air and halfpipe snowboarding events, there is no reward for tricks in the parallel giant slalom, it is all about speed.

Perhaps most interestingly, after the seedings have been set with the qualification runs, it is also a straight knockout competition, with each competitor aiming to get through head-to-head rounds to reach the final and fight for the gold medal.

The Phoenix Snow Park will play host to the action as the final snowboarding event of Pyeongchang 2018 gets under way.

Live streaming will be available via NBC (click here) in the U.S., and BBC Sport and Eurosport (click here and here) in the UK.

Here is the schedule for Thursday's action.

Women's Parallel Giant Slalom

Qualifying Run: 12 p.m. local, 3 a.m. GMT, 10 p.m. ET (Wednesday)

Elimination Run: 12:54 p.m. local, 3:54 a.m. GMT, 10:54 p.m. ET (Wed)

Men's Parallel Giant Slalom

Qualifying Run: 12:27 p.m. local, 3:27 a.m. GMT, 10:27 p.m. ET (Wednesday)

Elimination Run: 1:21 p.m. local, 4:21 a.m. GMT, 11:21 p.m. ET (Wed)

By the end of Thursday both the men's and the women's fields will have been whittled down to 16 ahead of Saturday's thrilling knockout action.

Russian athlete Vic Wild is the defending champion in the men's event, while Switzerland's Patrizia Kummer is back again to compete in the women's competition having topped the podium four years ago.

Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Click here for highlights of the action from Sochi.

The tension will be high at the Phoenix Snow Park as the smallest of mistakes can be costly in the parallel giant slalom.

Unlike many other skiing and snowboarding events at the Winter Olympics, contestants are not running against the clock.

After the qualification runs it is down to head-to-head races and all that matters is crossing the finish line ahead of your opponent.

It makes for thrilling viewing, and it should be one of the highlights of the snowboarding schedule at Pyeongchang 2018.