Ok, a more rational and levelheaded post about snowboarding than my last one.

For all of you who are not followers of the sport, please take into consideration that people like Red Gerard and Chloe Kim do not represent the best of us. They're amateurs and newbies to snowboarding. Those who compete in the Olympics are nowhere near the professional level and should not be regarded as such. The highest level snowboarders are not teenagers who tweet about being "hangry" in the middle of riding a halfpipe.

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SW-User

out of curiosity, who are the highest level snowboarders? and how come they aren’t at the olympics?

BlueMetalChick · 26-30, F

@SW-User They aren't at the Olympics for two reasons. The first reason is because that's not the point of the Olympics, not anymore really. Back in the day, the purpose was to showcase the pinnacle of human athleticism in each sport. Now, it's more for the young newbies who are looking to launch a career in their sport.

The second reason is because there isn't much money in snowboarding right now because it's only moderately popular, meaning there's not a big payout for the people who compete in the Olympics. And so none of the professionals and big names are gonna think it's worth it to travel all the way and do all the trouble of competing in the Olympics when the only real reward is some extra fame, since they're already famous.

Some of the highest level people include people like Travis Rice, Scott James, Linn Huag, and Hannah Teter. They were around when snowboarding hit its peak in the mid to late 2000's, and they're considered the elite, they do all the best tricks and have the best gear and so on.

SW-User

@BlueMetalChick cool! thanks for explaining. i think it’s interesting how we see the olympics differently. cause as a norwegian, the olympics is still [i]the[/i] competition. athletes plan 4 years ahead and all that. but we’re good at stuff like biathlon and cross-country and stuff, so in those diciplines it’s still very much the best of the best that compete

i know some snowboarders thought the olympics were super lame when they got their dicipline. i know at least one norwegian snowboarder refused to go at some point, i forget his name 😣 but he got a loooooot of criticism in norwegian media

BlueMetalChick · 26-30, F

@SW-User Yeah, that too. Snowboarding is not the kind of sport which meshes easily with the traditionally strict Olympic discipline.