To make watching the Milan-Cortina Olympics even more enjoyable, learn the basics of freestyle skiing and big air, including the characteristics of the sport, highlights, and rules
What is Freestyle Skiing Big Air? What's so exciting about it?
A battle that bets skill, strategy, and determination on a single parabola
Freeski Big Air is a sport in which skiers launch from a giant jump in a single jump, competing for the number of rotations, aerial position, and perfection of their tricks. It was adopted as an official Olympic event at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, and has made its presence known as one of the most intuitive and exciting freestyle events
The course specifications set by the FIS (World Ski Federation) for international competitions are a minimum of 30m in length for the drop-in ramp that serves as the approach, a minimum kicker height of 2m, a minimum take-off angle of 25°, and a minimum distance of 15m from take-off to landing. The air that is released from there has a horizontal flight distance of about 20-30m, and in larger venues it can exceed 30m, with a hang time of about 3 seconds
The essence of the sport is simple: jump high and execute difficult tricks with style. However, behind that lies extreme calculation and judgment. In big air, after meticulously calculating the speed of the approach and the angle of the takeoff, it's about how to incorporate rotations and grabs within the time and distance of the air, and how to land smoothly. It's a one-chance, one-choice situation where the result depends entirely on the outcome. Increasing the difficulty brings you closer to a high score, but failure means an immediate fall.
The difficulty isn't just about technique. It's heavily influenced by weather and wind, so the ability to make fine adjustments in the air is crucial. Even a slight deviation can determine whether the landing is successful or not. It's not uncommon to be forced to make difficult decisions in the actual competition, even for tricks that were successful in practice. Caught between playing it safe and performing a high-stakes trick, athletes constantly have to confront their own limits, and their mental strength is also put to the test.
Big Air tricks continue to become more difficult. The highest level of rotation today is a 2340, an astounding six and a half rotations. Some skaters have extremely difficult tricks, such as a 2160 or 1980 cork with an off-axis diagonal. It's not just the difficulty of the rotations that count; skaters are also competing to express their own unique style, incorporating jib-style tricks like butters into their air entry
The first thing to watch is the "difficulty" of the technique. In addition, pay attention to the "height" and "style" of the technique, as well as whether there is "room" in between. Even with the same number of rotations, the impression changes greatly depending on whether the athlete is stable in the air and has a smooth flow until landing. The "space" of room in the air also contributes to "showing off," and is perceived by spectators as a high level of perfection
Check out the video to see it in action!
Milan-Cortina Olympic highlights
Unlike the previous Beijing Olympics, which were held in stable conditions in urban areas, this time the event will be held in the mountainous region of Cortina, Italy, making the weather and snow conditions difficult to predict. Wind is a particular problem in mountainous areas. If the wind is too strong, skiers may be forced to forgo tricks that could be a winning strategy, or even if they take a gamble, the risk of failure increases. It may become a race against the weather for the skiers
Furthermore, this year's tournament will be held at night, with both the qualifying and final rounds starting at 7 p.m. Based on past statistics from the venue, Livigno, where the event will be held, temperatures will drop significantly to between -10°C and -15°C during the cold winter nights of February. The snow will also be harder than during the day, potentially increasing approach speeds. How well the athletes maintain their condition in the extreme cold will also have an impact on the outcome of the competition
Another difference from the Beijing Olympics is that this year's competition requires all skaters to use poles. The regulations were unified because it was difficult for judges to evaluate skaters based on whether they had a pole or not. (For example, how should the evaluation of a trick with the same level of difficulty be factored in whether or not they had a pole?) Grabs are naturally easier without a pole, making the trick more difficult
On the other hand, the hands tend to move wildly in the air, diminishing the impression of refined style. Which should receive the higher score? By making the use of the pole mandatory, the ambiguity of differences in opinion can be avoided. It will be interesting to see how this will affect the skaters' performances and the judges' decisions in Milan
■ Freestyle Skiing Big Air Competition Format and Judging Method
The competition will proceed in this order from the preliminaries to the finals
<Qualifying Round> All competitors will perform three runs each, and the highest score from each competitor will be used to determine the rankings. The top 8 will advance to the final round
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<Final Round> All competitors who passed the qualifying round will perform three runs each, and the highest score from each competitor will be used to determine the final rankings.
Freeski Big Air has a simple system. Competitors have three chances to jump in both the qualifying and final rounds, and the highest score of those three decides their ranking. In other words, even if they fail the other two runs, they only need to get a high score in one run. Qualifying scores do not affect the final score. The order of runs in the qualifying rounds is decided by lottery, and in the final round, competitors ski in order from lowest to highest in the qualifying rounds
*The match format and ranking format may change depending on the weather on the day
Milan-Cortina Olympic Freestyle Skiing and Big Air Competition Schedule
| Date and time | Event | Broadcast schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 2/14 (Sat) | ●Women's Freeski Big Air Qualifying [Japan Time] 2/15 (Sun) 03:30 | - |
| 2/15 (Sun) | ●Men's Freeski Big Air Qualifying [Japan Time] 2/16 (Mon) 03:30 | - |
| 2/16 (Monday) | ●Women's Freeski Big Air Final [Japan Time] 2/17 (Tue) 03:30 | February 17th (Tue) 03:25~ NHK E Tele |
| 2/17 (Tue) | ●Men's Freeski Big Air Final [Japan Time] 2/18 (Wed) 03:30 | - |
■ Japanese skiers competing in the Milan-Cortina Olympic Freestyle Big Air
[Women]
| name | date of birth | Birthplace | Affiliation | Major battles | |
| Kondo Kokone | @cocone_kondo | February 19, 2003 | Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture | Oriental Bio | '24-25 W-CUP SS Round 4, 6th place |
| Yuna Koga | @yuna_koga0402 | April 2, 2002 | Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture | Johoku Shinkin Bank Ski キー部 | '24-25 W-CUP BA Round 3, 9th place |
Kondo Kokone was selected to represent Japan at the last Beijing Olympics, but was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury during official practice. Her frustration fueled her continued efforts and her skills have improved. She has consistently placed in the single digits at the W-CUP, and in the Olympic year of this season, she placed 7th in the slopestyle opening W-CUP competition in November. Armed with the Switch Blender 1040, a feat that only Kondo, a woman in the world, can pull off, she will be competing on the Olympic stage for the first time
While at Waseda University, Koga Yuina won both the slopestyle and big air at the 2023 Winter University Games (FISU), and in the 2024-25 W-CUP she placed 9th in the big air and 10th in the slopestyle at the Tignes, France event, nearly reaching the finals. She also achieved results at the W-CUP in December this year, an Olympic year, and exceeded the SAJ's qualifying criteria, making her debut at this event