American Jamie Anderson wins second consecutive Olympic slopestyle gold medal

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – American Jamie Anderson won her second consecutive Olympic gold in slopestyle snowboarding, and the United States’ second in two days on Monday, braving perilous conditions at Phoenix Snow Park that sent scores of her competitors crashing their runs.

The 27-year-old Anderson, who won the initial slopestyle event at the 2014 Sochi Games, spent the past four years adding a double-cork 1080 to her repertoire, and the twice-flipping jump separated her from silver medalist Laurie Blouin of Canada and bronze-winning Enni Rukajarvi of Finland.

Anderson posted an 83.00 on her first run then watched as none of her competitors came close to matching. Her victory already secured by her second and final run, Anderson celebrated at the top of the hill, cruised to the bottom and draped an American flag over her shoulders.

Anderson’s gold is the second of the PyeongChang Games and comes on the heels of 17-year-old Red Gerard’s win in the men’s event Sunday. She has long been considered the best female slopestyle rider in the world, with five X Games gold medals, including one this year.

Among her peers, Anderson is best known as a fun-loving free spirit – “a bit of a hippie from Tahoe” as a friend once described. Now she’s got another title: two-time Olympic gold medalist.

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