Monster Energy Congratulates Its Team Of Snow Sports Athletes On Performances In Beijing
Beijing is officially a wrap! Monster Energy congratulates its freeski and snowboard athletes on a dominant performance in China. Over the course of three weeks, the world-class team claimed a total of 16 medals (7 Gold, 5 Silver and 4 Bronze) and made history with unprecedented performances.
From February 2 – 20, 2022, Beijing showcased the best of winter sports in China. Action sports featured bigger than ever before in the history of the winter games, thanks to the addition of the Big Air discipline as an official medal event.
Beijing attracted more than 2,800 athletes from 91 countries. Competitions were held in 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports. When all was said and done, Monster Energy freeski and snowboard athletes dominated in key events. Best of all, the roster of gold medalists not only included global icons such as Chloe Kim and Max Parrot but also emerging young guns who rose all the way to the top in the world’s biggest winter sports showcase.
Here’s how some of the action went down for Team Monster Energy in Beijing:
The Men’s Ski Slopestyle discipline witnessed a tremendous shake-up by a rookie: In a stacked field of riders, 23-year-old Monster Energy rider Alex Hall from Park City, Utah, rose all the way to first place. Putting his signature technical style on full display, Hall worked the rails with skate-inspired combos and finished his run with a signature ‘right double 10 pretzel’, a right double cork 1080 ‘pulled back’ into a 900, to claim gold for Team USA. A true next-level showcase!
Speaking of next-level, 20-year-old Zoi Sadowski-Synnott from Wanaka, New Zealand, already made history at the 2018 games by claiming bronze to end her country’s 26-year medal drought and becoming a national hero. Her hero status grew wings in Beijing when Sadowski-Synnott took gold in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle. In her third and final run at Genting Snow Park, the Kiwi ripper put down a flawless routine featuring a switch backside 900 and backside double cork 1080. She is now the first-ever athlete from New Zealand to claim gold at a winter games! Watch her Monster Energy athlete profile video here. Sadowski-Synnott was joined on the podium by 21-year-old Tess Coady from Melbourne, Australia, who held her own on the insanely difficult course to take home bronze. Watch her Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
The battle for medals continued in Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle on the enormous downhill course surrounded by a stylized ‘Wall of China’. When the artificial snow settled, 27-year-old Max Parrot from Cowansville, Canada, took the gold medal as a personal triumph. After earning silver in 2018, Parrot was diagnosed with cancer and beat the disease after six months of chemotherapy. Working the downhill course with versatile rail tricks and massive airs including a Cab triple cork 1620 earned Parrot the long-awaited gold medal. Also rising to the podium, 17-year-old Su Yiming from Jilin City, China, put down a face-melting run featuring frontside 1440, switch backside 1620 and backside 1800 to claim silver. Watch Yiming’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
The Men’s Ski Big Air event saw Monster Energy riders sweep the entire podium! In a final for the history books, 21-year-old Birk Ruud from Baerum, Norway, rose above the competition by sending a switch triple cork 1980 and double cork bio 1800 across the 70-feet gap. Taking his last run as a victory lap, Ruud celebrated his first career gold. Watch Ruud’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
Claiming Big Air silver for Team USA, 24-year-old Colby Stevenson from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, stomped nosebutter triple cork 1620 and switch double cork 1800 in his debut at a winter games. Watch his Monster Energy athlete profile video here. Rounding out the podium sweep, 30-year-old freeski icon Henrik Harlaut from Stockholm, Sweden wowed the crowd by landing nosebutter triple cork 1620 on his final jump to earn his first career medal at a winter games with bronze. Watch Harlaut’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
Despite some controversy surrounding the Big Air jump, with internet pundits calling it an ‘apocalyptic hellscape’ surrounded by a barren industrial site, the Monster team continued its winning run in Men’s Snowboard Big Air. China’s new national hero Su Yiming sealed the win by spinning perfect 1800s both ways. Taking his final attempt as a victory lap, the famous child actor pulled a fat 360 nosebone to claim gold for the host country. Securing his second medal in Beijing, Max Parrot came through on his final run to pull a 1620 to claim bronze.
The Women’s Snowboard Big Air turned into a dramatic showdown. New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott went head-to-head against defending gold medalist Anna Gasser from Austria. After taking the lead on the strength of 177.00 points, Sadowski-Synnott found herself leapfrogged by Gasser on the final attempt and took home silver after missing her last trick. Nevertheless, this marks the third winter games medal for the 20-year-old. Also barging into podium position, 17-year-old Kokomo Murase from Gifu, Japan claimed bronze by posting bio airs such as a massive frontside 1080.
Dropping into the Beijing halfpipe with a resume like no other snowboarder on the planet, defending gold medalist Chloe Kim faced a world of pressure in the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe final. No stranger to high-stakes situations, the Queen of the Superpipe showed her next-level talent by sealing the win on her very first run: Putting down two 1080s as well as a switch 900 earned the 21-year-old from Los Angeles a 94.00-point score that no other rider was able to match. Instead of taking an easy victory round, the snowboard phenom almost landed a never-been-done trick, Cab 1260, on her final attempts and celebrated her second gold at winter games. Watch Kim’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
Perhaps the most nerve-racking moment of the entire contest unfolded in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe final. In an elite field including snowboard legend Shaun White, 23-year-old Ayumu Hirano from Murakami, Japan, wrote history by landing the first ever frontside triple cork 1440 at a winter games. But when the judges underscored his perfect second run, eliciting vocal protests from NBC commentators and a Twitter storm of outrage, it all came down to Run 3. Against the odds, Hirano put down the triple cork 1440 once again, followed by Cab double 1440 mute, frontside double 1260, backside double 1260 mute, and frontside double 1440 tailgrab for 96.00 points and the gold medal. Redemption! This marks the first gold for Hirano, who already owns two silver medals in Snowboard Halfpipe (Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018) and represented Japan in Skateboard Park in the previous summer games. Talk about an all-round talent! Watch Hirano’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
Another redeeming moment happened in the Women’s Ski Halfpipe with the return to the podium of Canadian team rider Cassie Sharpe. After struggling during the past year with the aftermath of a knee injury sustained at X Games Aspen 2021, the 29-year-old from Comox, British Columbia, returned to medal-winning form in the final by stomping three perfect runs. She earned the silver medal on Run 3 with a score of 90.75, featuring highlights like her signature right corked 900 safety, into a left corked 900 tail grab, switch right 360 mute, right flare safety and not one but two 1080s. This marks the Canadian’s second winter games medal after claiming gold in PyeongChang in 2018. Great to see Sharpe back on the podium, where she belongs! Watch Sharpe’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
On Saturday, Men’s Ski Halfpipe unfolded as the final action sports event at Beijing this year. Coming in fresh off a bronze medal at X Games Aspen 2022, 31-year-old Monster Energy athlete David Wise f rom Reno, Nevada, barged into the final with a perfect first run. Straight out the gate, the two-time winter gold medalist put down a massive switch right 900 directly into a switch double cork 1080 in a run punctuated by huge double cork 1260s both ways, rightside and leftside, for 90.75 points. Wise took home the silver medal for Team USA and concluded Team Monster Energy’s medal run with yet another podium. Watch Wise’s Monster Energy athlete profile video here.
