BEIJING, China — Slopestyle silver medalist Julia Marino, of Westport, dropped out of the Olympic snowboard big air contest after a fall in practice, officials said.
The 24-year-old Marino was set to jump 23rd in the 30-snowboarder field during qualifying this weekend and it was a surprise when she didn’t appear.
Team USA snowboarding said in a statement that Marino fell during practice a few days ago and is “prioritizing her health.”
Her decision to drop out of the competition appears to have been a late decision. Marino shared a video of herself practicing at Big Air Shougang on Instagram stories about 12 hours before qualifying began, encouraging her followers to tune in.
Marino won Team USA’s first Olympic medal at the Beijing Games last week.
Her teammate Jamie Anderson fell during her first two runs and won’t qualify for the big air finals.
Anderson won silver in big air and gold in slopestyle at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, defending her slopestyle title from Sochi in 2014.
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