Jamie Anderson gave the United States a gold-medal sweep in the first Olympic slopestyle snowboarding competition, while Jenny Jones took bronze to give Britain its first ever medal in any snow sport. Anderson soared her way to the gold in a near flawless run in the women's final today, a day after Sage Kotsenburg captured the men's gold medal. Enni Rukajarvi of Finland took silver and Jones, a 33-year-old former maid at a ski resort, delivered a long-awaited medal for Britain.
Anderson, who expressed concern about the difficulty of the course during training, posted a score of 95.25 on her second run fueled by big air after big air at tricky Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Jones provided the surprise of the day with a thrilling second run of 87.25 that momentarily gave her the lead. Her medal is heady territory, the first ever for Britain in a winter sport not played on the ice. The 23-year-old Anderson, from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., came into the games as a heavy favorite but found herself up against it after a so-so first run. Admittedly not a huge fan of the course after wiping out in practice on Wednesday—tweaking her back in the process—Anderson delivered with a combination of athleticism, amplitude, and grace no one in the sport can match. (More slopestyle snowboarding stories.)
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