Gasser to shoot for threepeat in Olympic big air as Sadowski-Synnott tops qualifying

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Anna Gasser set herself up for a chance at her third straight Olympic snowboarding gold medal in big air. She'll have to overcome another gold medalist, defending slopestyle champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, to win it.

Sadowski-Synnott, the New Zealander who finished second to Gasser in big air in 2022, won Sunday night's big air qualifier with 172.25 points from her best two jumps.

Kokomo Murase, the 2022 bronze medalist, was second with 171.25 and led a contingent of four Japanese riders to reach Monday's final of 12.

The 34-year-old Gasser cut it a little closer than she would have liked in qualifying. The two-time champion only managed to place ninth among the field of 29 with a score of 159.50.

“I have to say I got very nervous throughout the competition because all the ladies were riding so strong, and I’m very happy I’m still in the top 12, and I get a chance to ride in finals tomorrow,” Gasser said.

“So at the end of the day it all worked out, but I for sure don’t like the feeling of being close to that bubble.”

The Austrian has long been known as one of the biggest jumpers in snowboarding and has won both big air contests since the event was put into the Olympics in 2018.

When snowboard racer Ester Ledecka was eliminated in the parallel giant slalom races earlier Sunday at the Livigno Snow Park, it gave Gasser a chance at history: No snowboarder has won three straight gold medals in the same event over the sport's 28-year history at the Games.

Waiting in the wings is Chloe Kim, who has a chance for her own three-peat later in the week.

“I don’t think I think about history in this one. I’m just super happy that I’m in the final and that I get a chance,” Gasser said. “Tomorrow is a new day and everyone is going to go full in.”

The qualifying box ticked, Sadowski-Synnott said that she can now let it flow in the final.

“I hope that the pressure’s kind of off my shoulders and I can finally enjoy being here and, and prepare for the finals,” she said.

Mia Brookes of Britain was third.

All three American riders were eliminated.

Big air consists of one single jump off a huge ramp, where the rider varies spins, flips and holds of the board. The Livigno ramp, built on a scaffolding, peaks at over 40 meters (yards), sending the riders soaring down the slope that was lit by floodlights for the nighttime event.

Riders jump three times in qualifying. Their top two jumps are combined for a final score while the worst jump is dropped. The top 12 riders of the field of 29 advanced to Monday's final.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Japan's Kokomo Murase competes during the women's snowboard big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott competes during the women's snowboard big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Austria's Anna Gasser competes during the women's snowboard big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Austria's Anna Gasser competes during the women's snowboard big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott looks on during the women's snowboard big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government on Sunday released from prison several prominent opposition members, including one of the closest allies of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, after lengthy politically motivated detentions.

Their releases come as the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces mounting pressure to free hundreds of people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked to their political beliefs. They also follow a visit to Venezuela of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Today, we are being released,” Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Machado ally and former governor, said in a video posted on X. “Much to discuss about the present and future of Venezuela, always with the truth at the forefront.”

Guanipa, who spent more than eight months in custody, was released from a detention facility in the capital, Caracas. An armored vehicle and officers appeared behind him in the video he released.

Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal confirmed the release of at least 30 people on Sunday.

In addition to Guanipa, Machado’s political organization said several of its members were among the released, including Maria Oropeza, who livestreamed her arrest by military intelligence officers as they broke into her home with a crowbar. Machado's attorney, Perkins Rocha, was also freed.

“Let’s go for the freedom of Venezuela!” Machado posted on X.

Guanipa was detained in late May and accused by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of participating in an alleged “terrorist group” plotting to boycott that month's legislative election. Guanipa's brother Tomás rejected the accusation, and said that the arrest was meant to crack down on dissent.

“Thinking differently cannot be criminalized in Venezuela, and today, Juan Pablo Guanipa is a prisoner of conscience of this regime,” Tomás Guanipa said after the arrest. “He has the right to think as he thinks, the right to defend his ideas, and the right to be treated under a constitution that is not being enforced today.”

Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela's acting president after the capture in Caracas of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military last month.

Her government announced on Jan. 8 it would free a significant number of prisoners — a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States — but families and rights watchdogs have criticized authorities for the slow pace of the releases.

The ruling party-controlled National Assembly this week began debating an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. The opposition and nongovernmental organizations have reacted with cautious optimism as well as with suggestions and demands for more information on the contents of the proposal.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez on Friday posted a video on Instagram showing him outside a detention center in Caracas and saying that “everyone” would be released no later than next week, once the amnesty bill is approved.

Delcy Rodríguez and Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke by phone in late January. His spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, in a statement said he “offered our support to help Venezuela work on a roadmap for dialogue and reconciliation in which human rights should be at the centre" and then “deployed a team” to the South American country.

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

FILE - Opposition lawmaker Juan Pablo Guanipa displays a sign that reads in Spanish "More than a million residents of Zulia State eat only once a day" during an intervention against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at National Assembly, in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)