LIVIGNO, Italy — As the snow fell under the lights in Livigno, Norway’s Tormod Frostad took gold in “the best men’s freeski big air competition that has ever happened,” according to silver medallist Mac Forehand.
With the pressure on, the 23-year-old outdid the field with a huge 98.50 on the final jump of the evening.
The United States’ Forehand occupied first place with just Frostad left to complete his final run, but the Norwegian produced when it mattered most and landed the technical right nose butter double bio 1620 safety to take gold with a combined score of 195.50 — 2.25 better than Forehand. In bronze position was Matej Svancer of Austria, who scored an incredible 96.00 on his third run for a 191.25 total.
The first run set the tone for the evening as six athletes scored over 90 points, with Frostad’s 95.25 the highest-scoring of the lot. The Norwegian led the standings after the opening two runs with a 192.25 total, his second run — a switch right tail butter 1620 safety — scoring 97.00 to put the heat on his rivals.
With just the top three athletes left to complete their final runs all three medals were still on the line. Forehand hugged his Norwegian rival, telling him he wasn’t sure what trick to attempt, before scoring 98.25 with what he said was a world-first jump to put himself in the gold-medal position and moving Forstad down to third before his final jump.
“The nose butter triple has never been done before,” Forehand said of the left nose butter triple cork 2160 with a safety grab that he landed on his third run.
He came up with the trick with his coach only a couple of days ago. “I did the first two tricks as perfectly as I could do and then had to do the trick that I dreamt of,” he said.
Forehand watched the video of his second run, a warm-up for the third trick, and saw he had so much airtime he could likely land a jump he had never even done before in training. He admitted it was “terrifying” standing on top of the ramp as he prepared for his final run. “You don’t know how it’s going to work. But you’ve played that moment back in your head so many times you know you can go to your feet,” he added.
But Forehand knew Frostad had another trick up his sleeve. “I bumped him out and then he bumped me back out,” said the American.
Some on social media felt Forehand was “robbed,” to which the American replied he didn’t care, explaining it is the nature of the sport. “It’s like picking between Michelangelo and Da Vinci? Exactly,” said Forehand.
While Forehand registers more rotations with his tricks, Frostad’s technique is unique. He goes against the direction of his momentum, pushing in the opposite direction of where his skis and body are naturally heading, which is extremely difficult and impressed the judges.
“It’s pushing the boundaries in a different way,” said Forehand. “I wish I could do tricks like that, maybe in the future we’ll see. It’s freeskiing, we can do whatever we want to do. That is what is so cool. We wouldn’t have said four years ago this would be happening now.”
(From left to right) Mac Forehand, Tormod Frostad and Matej Svancer pose for a selfie on the podium. (Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images)
After a big air final like no other, Frostad said he was, “amazed and hyped to go and land a big trick myself,” after seeing Forehand top of the leaderboard. It was only the second time he had landed the trick he won gold with, he said.
Team USA claimed three of the top five spots, with Troy Podmilsak finishing fourth (184.50) and Konnor Ralph fifth (178.00).
“That was some of the best skiing I’ve seen out of Konnor Ralph,” Forehand said. “He skied so well. Troy as well, doing two tricks he’s super good at and getting fourth. I’m sure it’s bitter-sweet for him. He skied so well, they both did, and it’s so cool to have them up there.”