The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are just around the corner. With the opening scheduled for February 4, 2022, the Japanese national team has finally been selected and announced. Snowboard cross is often referred to as "F1 on snow," and the thrill of the three-way battle between athletes vying for the fastest speed and the thrill of the competitive tactics draw many spectators. Here, we'll introduce the key points of snowboard cross, a signature event of the Winter Olympics. This should make watching the event on TV or online even more exciting. Be sure to learn the basics before you enjoy the battle between the world's best
Snowboard Cross ｜Snowboard Cross
The level of happenings and excitement is at its peak.
You won't be able to miss it until the very end because you never know what's going to happen.
■ Beijing Olympics Snowboard Cross Competition Schedule
Snowboard cross is scheduled for the first half to middle of the tournament. As with ski cross, the men's and women's qualifying and finals will be held on the same day. The athletes will be putting everything on the line in one day. Then, after the men's competition, there will be a two-day break before the mixed team competition. Unfortunately, the Japanese team has only entered one athlete each for men and women, so they will not be competing in the mixed team competition. (The schedule is subject to change due to weather and other factors.)
| Date and time | venue | Broadcast schedule | |
| Wednesday, February 9th, 11:00-12:25 (12:00-13:25 Japan time) | Women's Snowboard Cross Seeding Match 1-2 | Yunding Snow Park | Live streaming on gorin.jp from 12:00 on Wednesday, February 9th. Click here for gorin.jp |
| Wednesday, February 9th, 14:30-15:45 (15:30-16:45 Japan time) Depending on the ranking match | Women's Snowboard Cross 1st Round, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Ranking Match Women's Snowboard Cross Final | Yunding Snow Park | February 9th (Wed) 15:15~ Live broadcast (NHK BS1) gorin.jp is here |
| February 10th (Thursday) 11:15-15:55 (12:15-16:55 Japan time) Depending on the ranking match | Men's Snowboard Cross Seeding Match Men's Snowboard Cross 1st Round, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Ranking Match Men's Snowboard Cross Final | Yunding Snow Park | February 10th (Thursday) 15:00~ Live broadcast (NHK General TV) gorin.jp is here |
| February 12th (Sat) 10:00-10:50 (11:00-11:50 Japan time) Depending on the ranking match | Snowboard Cross Mixed Team Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Ranking Matches Snowboard Cross Mixed Team Finals | Yunding Snow Park | February 12th (Sat) 10:55~ Live broadcast (NHK General TV) & live internet streaming (NHK) gorin.jp is here |
■Highlights of the Beijing Olympics Snowboard Cross
Snowboard cross became an Olympic sport earlier than ski cross, at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Many people became addicted to the sport after watching it on TV at the Olympics due to the simplicity of deciding who will finish first and the exciting race developments that are full of unexpected happenings. The long course is deliberately designed with varying slopes and includes sharp corners. Athletes need not only speed but also the ability to react instantly to the slopes
Currently, three men are competing for the top spot in the men's World Cup: Martin Knoll (Germany), Alessandro Hermele (Austria), and Jakob Duszek (Austria). In the women's category, Charlotte Bank (Great Britain) is a clear leader
Unfortunately, it is difficult to say that Japanese athletes have a high chance of winning a medal, but Takahara Yoshiki still achieved his best result of fifth place in this season's World Cup. As snowboard cross is a sport where unexpected upsets are possible, even slight changes in the pairings or conditions mean that a great achievement is not out of the question
▼Video of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Snowboard Cross
■ Beijing Olympics Snowboard Cross Competition Format
The competition will proceed in this order from the preliminaries to the finals
- 〈Qualifying Seeding Run〉All skaters will skate one run at a time and their time will be recorded. Seeding will be determined by the time, and this will be the basis for pairings in the final round
- <Final Round> Five to six people start at the same time, and the top two who arrive first advance to the next round. The order is 1/8 (eight) final → 1/4 (quarter) final → semi-final
- <Small Final> The final to decide 6th to 12th place. The six skaters who lost in the semi-final will skate
- The Big Final: The last six skaters will skate to determine the medalists
The qualifying round is a time trial to decide the rankings, and the final slots are determined by the rankings. The top competitors are at an advantage as they are seeded for the 1/8 final. In the final round, 5 to 6 competitors start at the same time, and the top 2 competitors advance to the final round
*The match format and ranking format may change depending on the weather on the day
■The venue for the Beijing Olympics Snowboard Cross
Yunding Snow Park
■ Japanese snowboard cross athlete at the Beijing Olympics 
[Boys]
| name | date of birth | Birthplace | Affiliation | Number of Olympic appearances | |
| Yoshiki Takahara | @yoshiki_takahara1 | January 17, 1998 | Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture | PascoSSC | First appearance |
[Women]
| name | date of birth | Birthplace | Affiliation | Number of Olympic appearances | |
| Yuka Nakamura | @yukka.0128 | January 28, 2001 | Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture | Sendai University | First appearance |
This will be the Olympic debut for both Takahara Yoshiki and Nakamura Yuka. Takahara has often placed in the single digits in the World Cup, and this season he achieved his personal best of fifth place. This will be the first time a Japanese male athlete has competed in the Olympics since the Vancouver Olympics. Nakamura took advantage of a rare opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. Although he is not in a position to compete for a medal, he hopes to use his experience on the big stage to build on his progress
Text/Daisuke Mizorogi
Edit/STEEP