Snowboarding at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games:

Twenty-six women boarders competed in the qualifying round, with eight advancing to the final. Anita Schwaller (SUI) was the 1997 ISF and FIS Champion, but failed to make it to the final, placing only 11th in the qualifying round. The qualifying was led by Norway’s Stine Brun Kjeldaas, who was #1 in the World Cup rankings. In the final, American Shannon Dunn led after the first run, with Germany’s Nicola Thost, a former gymnast, in second. But on the second run, Dunn placed only seventh of the eighth finalists and dropped down to the bronze medal. Kjeldaas had been fourth in the first run of the final, but had the best score in the second round and moved up to a silver medal. But the gold was won by Thost, who was the most consistent, placing second in both runs of the final.