Anna Gasser Wins Gold Medal for Snowboarding Big Air at Olympics 2018

Austria's Anna Gasser posted a massive score of 96.00 on her third run Thursday (Wednesday evening in the United States) to take home the first-ever gold medal in women's snowboarding big air at the 2018 Winter Olympics. 

Gasser finished with a final score of 185.00, while American Jamie Anderson posted a mark of 177.25 to claim silver at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand (157.50) rounded out the podium with bronze. 

Here's a look at the top five finishers and their final scores. Complete results are available through the Olympics' official website. 

• Gold: Anna Gasser (Austria) 185.00
• Silver: Jamie Anderson (United States) 177.25
• Bronze: Zoi Sadowski Synnott (New Zealand) 157.50
• 4. Reira Iwabuchi (Japan) 147.50
• 5. Sina Candrian (Switzerland) 140.25

Gasser, the reigning big air world champion, was long considered the favorite. She reinforced that notion during her second qualifying run Monday in Pyeongchang when she logged a top run of 98.00 that was 3.75 points clear of the field. 

The Austrian carried that momentum over to Thursday. 

Even though she failed to land her first jump, Gasser kept a clear head and registered a second-run score of 89.00. She then landed a double-cork 1080 on her final run that garnered the evening's highest mark. 

That performance knocked Anderson down to second after she scored a 90.00 on her first run and 87.25 on her second. However, Anderson failed to land her final attempt and was left to watch as Gasser leapfrogged her for gold. 

Anderson is now a three-time medalist with two golds to her name following back-to-back slopestyle wins in 2014 and 2018. 

Not to be forgotten was Sadowski Synnott, whose bronze-medal performance propelled New Zealand back to the podium at the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1992.