Things didn't look great for Julia Marino after posting a 30.61 in her first run at Sunday's women's slopestyle final. But despite starting from the back of the pack and dealing with the sub-zero morning temperatures, the 24-year-old American put together the run of her life in her second heat—and got Team USA its first medal at the Beijing Games in the process.
Marino scored an 87.68 with a near-flawless second run and momentarily held the lead before New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott put together a 92.88 in her final run to capture the gold.
With her big score already in hand, Marino took a chance on a 1080 on the final jump of her third run but couldn't quite nail the landing. Still, it was a strong showing in what was her Olympics debut. The native of Westport, Conn., won gold in slopestyle at the 2017 Winter X Games in Aspen, and also has two silvers and two bronzes in her X Games career.
