OLYMPICS: Snowboard-Japan's Fukada wins women's slopestyle gold, Sadowski Synnott sets Games record

LIVIGNO, Italy – Japan’s Mari Fukada captured the gold medal in women’s slopestyle at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday, narrowly edging out New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott, who took silver and became the most decorated snowboarder in Olympic history.

Fukada’s fellow Japanese snowboarder Kokomo Murase earned the bronze on a partly cloudy afternoon in Livigno.

Murase, who had already won gold in the big air event, led the leaderboard after the first slopestyle run. Fukada overtook her in the second run and sealed her victory with a final score of 87.83. The 19-year-old claimed her first Olympic medal after finishing ninth in the big air competition. She said focusing on her training rather than the pressure of winning helped calm her nerves.

“That definitely helped with my nerves,” Fukada said.

Sadowski Synnott was in fourth place heading into the final run. The 24-year-old said she took a moment to feel gratitude before dropping in, then executed a flawless run with a score of 87.48 to earn silver. The medal marked the fifth of her Olympic career, giving her one gold, three silvers, and one bronze.

“I couldn’t have even believed that was possible when I was a kid,” she said. “So it’s pretty special.”

Slopestyle challenges riders to navigate rails and obstacles while performing aerial tricks judged on difficulty and creativity.

Murase admitted she was disappointed with the bronze.

“I was going for the gold, so to be honest, I’m a little bummed,” she said with tears. “I gave it the best run I possibly could on this course.”

Earlier Wednesday, China’s Su Yiming won gold in the men’s slopestyle on his birthday. Organizers had delayed the finals by one day due to heavy snowfall. -Editing by Ken Ferris, Alison Williams and Ed Osmond/Reuters