From big air to slope-style, from half-pipe to skicross, we explain everything about the discipline in which Tess Ledeux, Kevin Rolland and Chinese star Eileen Gu compete.
Freestyle skiing, a whole universe. With multiple events and a few stars, including Chinese star Eileen Gu and French world champions Tess Ledeux and Kevin Rolland, the discipline should take over the screens during the Olympic fortnight in Beijing. Are you afraid of getting lost in its meanders? Do not panic, Freed explains everything about how they work.
How it works ? Behind the term “freestyle skiing” are in fact hiding very different events, with sometimes exotic names: slope-style, half-pipe, big air… Let’s take a closer look. In mogul events, skiers race down a heavily bumpy track. The judges assign a score to each pass (run) based on jumps (20% of the score), technique (60%) and speed (20%). Each athlete performs two qualifying runs. The best are retained for the finals disputed over three runs.
In slopestyle, skiers descend a slope with springboards, bumps and metal ramps and perform acrobatic tricks under the eyes of judges who evaluate the style and quality according to their difficulty and variety. At the end of the two qualifying rounds, only the best go to the final (three other rounds).
Skicross is a pure racing event. The skiers descend four by four a long narrow track dotted with turns and jumps. The first two are qualified for the next round, from the round of 16 to the final four. To enter the eliminatory table, the competitors each make a solo pass on the course. The 32 fastest are retained and placed in the table according to their classification during these qualifications.
In the half-pipe, the competitors perform acrobatic figures while passing from one wall to the other in a sloping half-cylinder whose walls are almost seven meters high. Their passage is marked by judges who evaluate the execution, the amplitude, the difficulty and the sequences. After two qualifying rounds, the best compete in three more in the final. The better of their two scores is retained.
In big air, a brand new Olympic discipline, the competitors launch themselves from the top of a giant springboard then make a jump judged on the amplitude, the difficulty, the creativity and the execution of the tricks, as well as the quality of the reception. Only the best score of the two jumps is retained in qualifications. Competitors qualified in the final have three new attempts, the best two of which are taken into account.
Where ? The events take place at the Genting snowpark, at the Zhangjiakou site, located about 180 kilometers northwest of Beijing. Those of big air will take place on a springboard specially fitted out in an industrial zone of the Chinese capital.
When ? The competition started on Thursday, with the qualifications for the moguls events, the finals of which will take place on February 5 (for men) and February 6 (for women). Then will come the turn of the big air, with qualifications on February 7, the women’s final on February 8 and the men’s final on February 9. The mixed team freestyle skiing finals will be held on February 10. On February 13, the women’s slopestyle and jumping qualifications are scheduled. On February 14, the men’s slopestyle qualifications and the women’s slopestyle and jump finals. On February 15, the men’s slopestyle finals and the men’s jump qualifications. On February 16, the men’s jumping finals. On February 17, the women’s and men’s halfpipe qualifications and the women’s skicross finals. On February 18, the women’s half-pipe and men’s skicross finals. Finally, the tournament will conclude with the men’s half-pipe finals, which will take place on February 19.