In July 2018, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially added three events to the Olympic program: big air for men and women, along with a mixed team aerials event.[2][3] A total of 284 quota spots (142 per gender) were distributed to the sport, a decline of 4 from the 2018 Winter Olympics.[4] A total of 13 events were contested, six for men, six for women and one mixed.[5]
A maximum of 284 quota spots are available to athletes at the games. A maximum of 30 athletes could be entered by a National Olympic Committee, with a maximum of 16 men or 16 women. If a NOC has qualified enough athletes to enter the mixed team event in aerials then they may extend their total to 32 athletes. Each event has a specific quota amount allocated to it.[6] The athlete quota per event is listed below.
Event
Men
Women
Minimum FIS points
Aerials
25
25
80.00
Big air/Slopestyle
30
30
50.00
Halfpipe
25
25
50.00
Moguls
30
30
80.00
Ski cross
32
32
80.00
284 quotas
142
142
Big air and slopestyle have a combined event quota.
Competition schedule
The following were the planned competition schedule for all thirteen events.[1]
Sessions that include the event finals are shown in bold.
Fanny Smith of Switzerland, the 2018 bronze medalist, initially crossed the line in third place and thought she had won the bronze medal. Daniela Maier of Germany finished fourth. However, following a 10-minute review by race judges, Smith was penalised for a clash with Maier, so at the awards ceremony on 17 February 2022 Maier was awarded the bronze.[7]
On 26 February 2022, after the end of the Olympic Games, following an appeal from Fanny Smith, the FIS Appeals Commission made the decision to overturn the FIS Jury decision.[8] As a result of winning the appeal, Smith was promoted to third place, while Maier officially finished in fourth place, which was reflected on the FIS website.[9]
FIS has no right to make a decision on the return and redistribution of medals, as this issue is in the exclusive competence of the IOC, therefore, in its decision, the FIS Appeals Commission did not mention any words about the medals and their redistribution, and the IOC has the last word in this issue.[10] On 13 December 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided both competitors will be awarded duplicate bronze medals and share joint third place.[11] At December 2022 the IOC has updated the data on its website.[12]
Participating nations
26 nations sent freestyle skiers to compete in the events, including the IOC's designation of Russian Olympic Committee, were scheduled to participate. The numbers of athletes are shown in parentheses.[13]