Babe of the Month - Big Air Olympic Gold Medal Winner Anna Gasser

Anna Gasser was born 16 August 1991 in Villach, Austria and is an Austrian snowboarder who competes in Slopestyle and Big Air.

Anna started to compete in snowboarding in the 2010/2011 season. Before competing in slopestyle Gasser was part of the Austrian National Gymnastics Team.

In November 2013, Gasser became the first female snowboarder to perform a Cab Double Cork 900 kicker, a double salto backwards with a half-turn

At the FIS Snowboarding World Championships 2013
Gasser finished 18th. Her best World Cup result and the only podium finish before the 2014 Olympics was the third-place finish in Stoneham on 19 January 2014.

Gasser qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics and showed the best result in the qualification round, directly qualifying for the final. However in the Final itself she fell twice and was classified in tenth place.

 Snowboarder Anna in Big Air action!

Gasser has had a great 2017 season. She won Gold in the Big Air event at the Snowboard World Championships in Spain, receiving a score of 100. Gasser also had a successful 2017 X Games, winning Gold in Slopestyle and Bronze in Big Air in Hafjell, and Silver for Big Air in Aspen.

In 2018 Anna went one better than in 2017 and won Gold in the Big Air event at the X Games in Aspen.

Last Thursday Anna Gasser won the first ever Olympic Big Air Final in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Progression was the name of the game in the big air final, and the format created some interesting strategy. Each rider's total score was based on their best two scores (out of three), but those scores had to come from different tricks.

Anna was extremely consistent throughout the competition. She started with a cab double underflip, a trick she's had on lock for a while now, on her first attempt. With a solid score on the board, she then put down a backside double cork 1080 on her second attempt.

Heading into her final run, Anna was sitting in second place, just a few points behind United States rider Jamie Anderson.

"I was standing up there and I knew I had the silver and I only could win," she said. "I was like, 'No, I'm going to go full risk and if it works out then I deserve this medal.'"

That's when Anna landed her cab double cork 1080, which earned a 96 from the judges (the highest score awarded to any individual trick during the final) and vaulted her above Anderson into first place, with 16-year-old New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott third.

     Anna celebrates winning Olympic Gold in Pyeongchang       

Anderson ended up with a silver medal, but it was nearly a gold. She landed a frontside 1080 on her first run and a cab double cork 900 on her second run to put her in position for a potential win. She attempted to move up to a cab double cork 1080 on her third and final run but was unable to land the trick. She maintained the lead until Anna bumped her down on the very last run of the contest.

Big Air 2018 Winter Olympic Result:

Gold: Anna Gasser (AUT), 185.00 pts

Silver: Jamie Anderson (USA), 177.25

Bronze: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), 157.50

4. Reira Iwabuchi (JPN), 147.50

5. Sina Candrian (SUI), 140.25

6. Silje Norendal (NOR), 131.50

7. Yuka Fujimori (JPN), 122.75

8. Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN), 119.00

9. Spencer O'Brien (CAN), 113.25

10. Julia Marino (USA), 93.25

You can follow Anna on Facebook and Instagram