What is it?
Two riders racing head-to-head on parallel courses down the mountain. Just like slalom skiing, both riders must stay within courses marked out by coloured gates. Each contest consists of two runs, one on either course to make it fair for both competitors. The times are then added together and the fastest aggregate time wins.
Rules
Every competitor has an unopposed qualifying session. The fastest 16 go through to a knock-out tournament with their times acting as seedings. So, the fastest qualifier will face the boarder who finished 16th, the second fastest qualifier will face the boarder who finished 15th and so on. The ride-offs continue until there is a winner.
History
Snowboard giant slalom has been part of the World Cup circuit since the mid-1990s and the Olympics since Nagano in 1998. Originally the sport was just one rider against the clock but now this has largely been replaced with the more exciting parallel giant slalom, which made its Olympic debut in 2002.
Random fact
Just as Austria dominates the world of downhill skiing so France has the best slalom snowboarders on the circuit.
The lowdown
- The best riders are those with the most muscle mass giving them more weight and therefore more speed down the mountain.
- Top riders on the World Cup circuit include Slovenian Kosir Dejan and Austria's Doris Guenther.
- The sport is very different to the half-pipe or freestyle boarding with longer, narrower boards and hard downhill ski-style boots. Racers also wear skintight racing suits for extra speed.
- The current Olympic women's champion is France's Isabella Blanc while Switzerland's Philipp Schoch won the men's event.
The one to beat
Mathieu Bozzetto is the fastest slalom rider on the World Cup circuit. The Frenchman is the current world champion and has won over 15 World Cup races in the past three seasons.
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