Gold standard

Jewish snowboarder snags bronze in Pyeongchang Games

After missing Sochi due to injury, Arielle Gold wins her first-ever Olympic medal at halfpipe competition dominated by teammate Chloe Kim

By ToI Staff 13 February 2018, 7:01 am 2

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Arielle Gold competes in run 3 of the women's snowboard halfpipe final event at the Phoenix Park during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 13, 2018. AFP/LOIC VENANCE)

American snowboarder Arielle Gold spun and ollied her way to a bronze medal in the women’s halfpipe competition at the Winter Olympics on Pyeongchang, South Korea, Tuesday.

The medal was the first ever for Gold, 21, who is one half of a Jewish snowboarding duo with her older brother Taylor Gold, who competed in Sochi.

Gold dislocated her right shoulder during training for the Sochi Olympics and wasn’t able to compete.

After mulling retirement, she decided to compete in Pyeongchang and barely made the 12-woman final.

The Steamboat Springs, Colorado, native managed to brush off a fall during her first trip down the halfpipe and stomped an 85.75 on her third run, good enough to make the podium.

She was overshadowed by teen phenom Chloe Kim, who dominated the Olympic women’s halfpipe snowboarding final, soaring to a gold medal four years in the making.

Chloe Kim, left, and Arielle Gold celebrate during the victory ceremony after the women’s snowboard halfpipe final during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 13, 2018. AFP/ LOIC VENANCE)

Kim put up a score of 93.75 on the first of her three finals runs and then bettered it with a near-perfect 98.75 on her last run with the gold already well in hand. With members of her family in the stands, including her South Korean grandmother, Kim put on a show that delivered on her considerable pre-Olympic hype.

Liu Jiayu took silver with an 89.75 to become the first Chinese snowboarder to medal at the Olympics.