Judging for both sports is mostly done by a panel of six international judges, with the highest and lowest scores being dropped.
Unlike other sports, such as gymnastics, there are not component scores. A certain trick does not have a set value. Judges are scoring out of 100 based on overall impression and basically ranking from there.
Execution is critical and can include several things, such as how cleanly athletes are landing tricks, how long they hold their grabs or how long they ride a rail. Difficulty can help an athlete stand out, especially by doing tricks that are harder than their competitors or that have never been done before.
Often runs including tricks with more flips or a higher degree of rotation will be scored higher. Judges will also consider progression, and variety matters too.
Freeskiing and snowboarding have been among the United States’ most successful sports in recent Olympics.
The pandemic, the restrictions, the COVID testing – it just piled on the pressure of someone who already feels it as the USA’s two-time Olympic gold medalist in women's slopestyle snowboarding.
“It’s definitely a more complicated Olympics. Going to the Olympics is very stressful and you have so much on your plate,” Anderson said at a news conference in the Olympic Village. “And this year it has been an absolute nightmare. Just everything from getting here, I think all of us in the last few months – I was really struggling with everything it took to get here.
But all it took was the very first day on the snow Wednesday for practice runs to reassure her that she made the right decision.
The slopestyle course is massive, and Anderson, 31, said it reminds her of her first Olympics in Sochi where everything was gigantic and intimidating.
“It’s pretty gnarly," Anderson said. "What’s cool about the Olympics compared to any other event is it’s always on a completely new mountain and completely new setup.”
Anderson will make her first runs on the slopestyle course when women's qualifying begins at 9:45 p.m. ET (USA Network).
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