(L-R) Laurie Blouin of Canada, Julia Marino and Klaudia Medlova celebrate on the women's big air snowboarding podium on March 16, 2019 in Quebec City.
Julia Marino has it figured out in Quebec City.
Marino, a 2018 Olympian, won the big air snowboarding world cup stop in Quebec City for the second straight year Saturday. She won the competition with a two-run combined score of 162.25 points, defeating Canadian Laurie Blouin (157.50) by almost five points. Slovakian Klaudia Medlova was third with with a 122.50.
Marino, the only American in the women’s final, did the same thing this year in Quebec City that she did last year: was first in both qualification and the final. Last year’s victory was Marino’s last world cup podium. Two years ago, she won the slopestyle competition in Quebec City and finished second in big air.
The 21-year-old began Saturday’s final round with an 87.50, taking an early lead over Blouin and scoring 74.75 and 85.25 on her second and third jumps. In big air, two of the three scores count but the tricks must be spun in different directions, so Marino’s first two scores counted for her final total.
Marino made her Olympic debut at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, where she was 10th in big air and 11th in slopestyle.
Ryan Stassel, a two-time Olympian, finished fifth in the men’s final with a score of 157.00.
This was the final big air world cup of the season.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
