Austria's Anna Gasser takes gold in 1st Olympic women's snowboard big air final

By CBC Sports

Canada's Spencer O'Brien and Laurie Blouin finished ninth and 12th, respectively, in the inaugural Olympic women's snowboard big air final on Thursday in Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

O'Brien, from Courtenay, B.C., scored a combined 113.25 points over her three runs.

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"I ended up going with a lot safer of runs than I would have liked to but that's how the day panned out for me," O'Brien said. "Pretty disappointed I couldn't put on my best but that's kind of what I had today and that's how it goes."

Although O'Brien was disappointed in her own performance, she was happy to be among a field strong of competitors. 

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"As athletes we always want to do our best, so if you don't do your best you don't feel that good about it," O'Brien said. "But I'm just really proud of the women here today. The level is just incredible. To just be a part of this final is really amazing."

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Blouin fell on her first jump and after failing to land her second and scoring 39.25, didn't attempt a third. However, the Stoneham, Que., native captured silver in last week's slopestyle competition.

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Austria's Anna Gasser scored 96 on her final run for a combined score of 185 points to reach the top of the podium as she overtook American Jamie Anderson, who scored 177.25 to come away with silver. 

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New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski Synnott claimed bronze with a score of 157.50.

Each rider had three runs, with the two best counting toward their final score. 

With files from The Canadian Press