Both Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Dane Menzies finished qualifying in top spot at the Livigno Snow Park.
While Sadowski-Synnott’s every move has been highlighted since she won big air bronze in 2018 — she now has four Winter Olympic medals, including slopestyle gold four years ago, and already has a silver medal at these Games — Menzies has flown a little under the radar.
The 20-year-old Canadian-born boarder has a handful of top-five finishes at world cup events and finished sixth in big air at Milano Cortina last week.
Menzies wasted no time showing his ability yesterday as he was the second athlete in action for a slopestyle event brought forward in the schedule due to a forecast for poor weather.
He combined strong trick variety and clean execution through the rail section before linking a polished jump line — switch backside 1260 into frontside 1440, finishing with a 1660.
His score of 86.06 put him in the top spot and there he stayed.
"It felt pretty good ... I definitely was not expecting that," Menzies said.
"I didn’t expect the judges to score that high, but they’re liking my selection of rails, so that’s good.
"I was a bit stressed last night after the schedule change. I’m happy to put a run down after kind of a brutal training session. I’m stoked and hopefully looking good for finals."
Lyon Farrell (15th) and Rocco Jamieson (18th) missed qualifying for the final.
In the women’s qualifying rounds, defending Olympic champion Sadowski-Synnott made an immediate statement, posting an opening score of 81.73 to move into second place.
The Wanaka star flowed through the course with stylishly executed tricks, looking composed in the air and holding on to her grabs.
Opting for a measured approach in her first run — a 1080 followed by back-to-back 900s on the jumps — Sadowski-Synnott impressed the judges with consistent execution across each section.
She went bigger on run two, adding a 1260 to her jump line and lifting her score to 88.08 to take over first place.
"It feels really good to land," Sadowski-Synnott said.
"There was a lot of pressure going into today, but I’m just grateful that we got good weather so that all the girls could show their best snowboarding."
Lucia Georgalli finished 20th to miss out on the final.
— Allied Media
