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LIVIGNO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 17: Mac Forehand of Team United States reacts after competing in run three of the Men's Freeski Big Air Final. (Andy Cheung/Getty Images)
Mac Forehand lined up his final jump at Tuesday's Freeski Big Air finals in the Winter Olympics needing at least a 97.50 from the judges for a chance to win a gold medal, a score that had never been achieved at the finals of a Winter Games or a biennial World Freestyle Skiing Championship.
Chasing an unprecedented Olympic moment, the Connecticut-born skier trotted out a never-before-seen Big Air maneuver.
Forehand became the first person to land a nose butter triple cork 2160 - that's six full rotations in the air - as he stuck the backward landing before being quickly consumed by disbelief at the bottom of the course. The American audience joined Forehand in another round of celebration when the judges awarded the Fairfield native a 98.25, temporarily vaulting him over Norwegian competitor Tormod Frostad and into gold medal position.
"It was terrifying," Forehand told Olympics.com. "You're doing something you've never done before, the crowd's cheering, the pressure's on - but this is the stuff we dream of. I knew I had a shot at winning with that trick."
Nose butter refers to skiers initiating from the tips of their skis, while corks are off-axis spins in which a rider's head and shoulders dip below their hips.
Frostad stepped up for the final run of the Big Air event needing an even more audacious score, so the Norwegian skier reached into his own bag of unprecedented tricks. He became the first competitor to land a nose butter dub bio 16 to win what has been dubbed the greatest Big Air finals of all time, narrowly edging out Forehand with a 98.50 score.
This breakneck final exchange led to immediate cries of robbery from social media, focusing on the facts that Forehand's routine included significantly more rotation and that a Norwegian judge, one of six on the panel, provided the highest scores on each of Frostad's two qualifying runs. However, Forehand spoke with Yahoo Sports! writer Dan Wolken after the event to push back against this narrative, claiming that accusations of foul play stem from a misunderstanding of the sport.
"I've seen it so many times before: I got robbed, someone I beat got robbed - rob this, rob that," Forehand told Wolken. "But we know so much about our sport. We know what scores well, what should do well. The guys that are out here tonight know what the podium is going to be at all times. People on the outside perspective might not really understand that, but that's just how it's going to be. And, you know, judged sports - like I'm sure in figure skating - it's the same way. But what do they really know about our sport?"
Forehand earned his spot in Tuesday's final round after placing first in the qualifying stages, and he immediately announced his podium intentions on the championship stage, placing second overall on the first run with a score of 95.00, just .25 points behind Frostad. The 24-year-old replicated his 95.00 in the second run, securing his place on the medal podium before his final attempt and granting Forehand the latitude to chase history.
"I thought of a trick that I could go into first with a couple of days prior with my coaches," he added to Olympics.com. "Got to the top, talked about it, didn't really want to do it - but they're like, you could do it for sure."
Tuesday's performance marked Forehand's first career Olympic medal, finishing 11th in Big Air and 20th in slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He previously won the 2023 and 2026 Winter X Games for Big Air and placed second in slopestyle at the 2025 World Championships.
This article originally published at Was Mac Forehand robbed in Big Air finals? Connecticut-born skier defends Olympic judges.
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