Canada's Toutant wins Olympic gold in snowboard big air

PyeongChang, Feb 24 (IANS) Canada's Sebastien Toutant won the gold in the men's snowboard big air event on Saturday at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Toutant has now joined Austria's Anna Gasser, who won the women's big air event on Thursday, as the first Olympic gold medallists in the history of the sport, reports Efe.

The event is making its debut in the ongoing Winter Games.

Toutant came first with a score of 174.25 points from the first two attempts. Results from the best two of the three jumps are taken for the final score.

The Canadian enjoyed a five-and-half point advantage over Kyle Mack of the United States, who came second, and Britain's Billy Morgan took home the bronze.

The Americans, Chris Corming -- silver medallist at last year's world championships held at Sierra Nevada in Spain -- and Redmond Gerard -- who won gold in the slopestyle at the same world championships -- came in fourth and fifth, respectively.