Olympic Snowboarding Men's Big Air Final 2022 TV Schedule, Live Stream, Pick

The Beijing 2022 men's snowboard big air qualifier, which went down late Sunday night/early Monday morning in the U.S., held more than a few surprises. 

Like the women's big air qualifier, there were some shocking results as the field of 12 men was set for the big air final. The women's qualifier saw Beijing 2022 slopestyle silver medalist Julia Marino did not start because of an injury suffered in practice, per U.S. Ski & Snowboard (via USA Today), and Pyeongchang 2018 slopestyle gold medalist and big air silver medalist Jamie Anderson failed to reach the final. 

In the men's qualifier, where 29 athletes from 14 nations attempted to advance to the final, defending Olympic big air gold medalist Sebastien Toutant of Canada wasn't able to put down two clean runs and finished 26th. On his third run, Toutant suffered a nasty crash but was able to walk off the course with help. 

Fellow Team Canada rider Mark McMorris said that Toutant had bruised his heel in practice and had been with the doctors until "90 seconds before his jump," per the Canadian Press (via TSN).

Norway's Staale Sandbech, competing at his fourth Winter Olympics, also did not qualify for the final. 

Canada's Max Parrot was the top qualifier with a score of 164.75 (his two best runs combined), followed by Japan's Takeru Otsuka (160) and the United States' Red Gerard (158.75). 

We'll break down the 12 riders who will be competing in the final, which will be broadcast late Monday night in the U.S. (Tuesday morning in Beijing) and make final predictions.  

Men's Big Air Start List

1. Darcy Sharpe, Canada

2. Niek van der Velden, Netherlands

3. Chris Corning, United States

4. Mons Roisland, Norway

5. Mark McMorris, Canada

6. Sven Thorgren, Sweden

7. Marcus Kleveland, Norway

8. Su Yiming, China

9. Hiroaki Kunitake, Japan

10. Red Gerard, United States

11. Takeru Otsuka, Japan

12. Max Parrot, Canada

Men's Big Air Odds

Max Parrot +225 (bet $100 to win $225)

Marcus Kleveland +400

Takera Otsuka +550

Red Gerard +600

Men's Big Air Schedule

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 15

Time: 12 a.m. ET

TV: NBC

Live Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

The big question mark heading into the men's big air final is judging.

You never want judging to be a central storyline at the Olympics, but unfortunately, that was the case in the men's snowboard slopestyle final on Feb. 7. (Riders who compete in slopestyle at the Olympics are automatically qualified to compete in big air.)

In that competition, judges failed to notice that Parrot, who won gold, grabbed his knee instead of the front of his board. Silver medalist Su Yiming and bronze medalist Mark McMorris finished within three points of Parrot, so if the judges had docked him for the missed grab, it would have almost certainly changed the podium order. 

Unfortunately, judging is proving to be an issue in big air, too. In qualifying, athletes could not explain the sometimes inconsistent scores. On Gerard's first trick, a switch backside triple cork 1620 indy (four-and-a-half rotations, three off-axis flips), he received a 75.50.

McMorris did the same trick on his first run, grabbing stalefish instead of indy, and earned a score of 81.50. The different grabs should not have affected the score that significantly. 

"It doesn't really make complete sense," Gerard said after, per the Associated Press (via CBC). "Having that six-point difference is pretty incredible."

The men didn't leave much on the table in qualifying. The top trick of the final, which anyone hoping to win gold will need, will be a quad 1800, four off-axis flips and five full rotations. Though we didn't see any quads in qualifying, Parrot and Otsuka had a triple 1800, while Yiming had a flat-spin 1800.

In his X Games debut in 2017, Kleveland became the first to land a quad 1800 in competition. It's become something of a signature trick for him. Coming off big air gold at X Games Aspen in January, Kleveland is a good bet to take gold. 

But if Parrot can take a second gold to go with his slopestyle medal, he'll become the first snowboarder to win two golds in his first Olympics. 

Picks: Marcus Kleveland (gold), Max Parrot (silver), Su Yiming (bronze)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

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