History Made At X Games As Three Women Land First-Ever Triples In Ski Or Snowboard Competition

In April 2022, Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi made history when she became the first female snowboarder to successfully land a frontside triple cork 1260 (three off-axis flips and three and a half rotations) at The Nines, a ski and snowboard progression session in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

At the time, Iwabuchi was just the third woman to have landed a triple of any kind, joining Austria’s Anna Gasser and Canada’s Laurie Blouin.

But none had been able to successfully land the trick in competition—until Saturday.

In the women’s big air competition at X Games Aspen Saturday night, Iwabuchi finally staked a claim to the triple with a clean triple underflip frontside grab, winning her first X Games gold.

Iwabuchi’s backside 1260 in her second run earned her a 40 (out of 50) before the triple underflip that wowed the judges, with a 47 for a total score of 87. It was just one point ahead of defending gold medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who took silver. Blouin took bronze.

Sadowski-Synnott, who earned silver with a backside 1260 melon and a switch backside 1260 Weddle, was pumped to be part of such a progressive contest.

“The level of competition tonight was absolutely insane, there hasn’t been a level like this ever!” said Sadowski-Synnott. “I’m proud to be a part of it and honored to be behind Reira because she is such an insane rider and it’s been a long time coming.”

It was Iwabuchi’s third X Games medal, giving her one of each color. The 21-year-0ld took silver in big air in her 2018 X Games debut and bronze in 2020.

“It’s my dream. I really wanted to get a gold medal at the X Games,” Iwabuchi said after her win. “I’m really stoked to make history,” she added about her triple. She said that finishing off the podium at the Beijing Olympics in February 2022 was disappointing and fueled her training leading up to X Games.

Many thought Gasser, 31, would be the one to claim a triple in competition. She first landed the one (a Cab 1260 triple underflip) in training at Stubai Glacier, Austria, in November 2018.

But Iwabuchi’s focus coming in to X Games Aspen 2023 was to stake her claim to the trick—and she accomplished it.

Moments after Iwabuchi lander her triple, Blouin put down a clean Cab triple underflip Indy grab.

On Friday on the women’s skiing side, Canadian Megan Oldham became the first woman to land a triple in a ski or snowboard competition with her leftside triple cork 1440 on her third run in big air, which earned her gold.

The three triples by three female athletes in two days—when it had never been done prior to this X Games—had the progresson on the women’s side at the forefront.

“Reira didn’t just land the first triple in a women’s snowboard contest; she sent the sport’s trajectory into warp speed. To land it first-try so perfectly is really the stuff of legends,” Brandon Graham, X Games snowboarding commentator, told me Sunday.

“Laurie Blouin washed out on her two Cab triple underflip attempts, yet she wasn’t deterred,” Graham continued. “Reira’s ability to stomp her frontside triple underflip frontside grab only fueled Laurie’s desire to land her triple as well. To see her finally land that trick on her last attempt only reinforced what what was clear from the start of the contest—women’s snowboard big air has forever changed.”

Gasser will have multiple chances to join the triple club in competition this season with FIS World Cup events as well as February’s Dew Tour.