Two-time Olympic snowboard champion Gasser excited about last ‘bonus’ season before retirement

With two Olympic gold medals in snowboard big air, two World Championships titles, five X Games golds, 31 FIS World Cup podiums and a whole litany of other accolades to her name, Austria’s Anna Gasser is inarguably one of the best riders in history.

Despite all the attention on whether she will be able to make it three Olympic titles in a row at the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the 33-year-old feels relaxed about what will be her last Games.

True to form, the 33-year-old looked comfortable as she qualified in second place in big air with a cab 1260 drunk driver during the recent 2025 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland.

“It felt really good,” Gasser said in Engadin. “I’m happy I landed my tricks.”

Gasser also enjoyed being the most experienced rider in a field where the youngest competitor was just 15 years old.

Unlike many of today’s snowboarding prodigies, Gasser was 18 years old when she began snowboarding and 21 when she made her World Cup debut.

In the past five years, it is not unsurprising to see 14 and 15-year-old riders finish on a snowboard podium.

“I’m super stoked to see how good they are already,” she said as 15-year-old U.S. rider Lily Dhawornvej walked past Gasser in the Engadin 2025 big air mixed zone.

The U.S. rookie Dhawornvej came close to a World Cup podium finish in Aspen in February with fourth place, just weeks after Gasser claimed a record 10th World Cup big air victory in front of a home crowd in Kreischberg, Austria in January.

At the time, Gasser said she relished being able to keep up with  younger rivals such as 17-year-old Mia Brookes (GBR), who finished third in Kreischberg and went on to end the 2024/25 FIS season with a second consecutive big air Crystal Globe.

“I’m just relieved, happy and it’s kind of proof a little, right, to keep on going and that I’m still on the right path and just enjoying it,” Gasser said in Kreischberg.

At the World Championships in Engadin, the 33-year-old Austrian echoed this sentiment.

As the first woman to ever land a triple cork rotation – a feat she accomplished at the Stubai Glacier in Austria in 2018 – Gasser has long had a reputation as one of the most progressive female snowboarders.

She confirmed that status again in 2025 by finally putting down a triple cork in competition in Kreischberg for her 10th World Cup victory in big air and 13th win overall when combined with her three in slopestyle.

Weeks later at the X Games Aspen 2025, which marked Gasser’s 10th edition, the Austrian stomped another cab triple 1260 to win her fourth X Games big air title and eighth X Games medal overall.

Gasser’s appetite for new tricks has not abated since she won her first World Cup in 2016 and first X Games title in slopestyle in 2017.

If anything, knowing that 2026 will be her final season before retirement fills Gasser with pride.

“I’m very happy that I could already win two medals at World Championships, and two Olympic medals,” she said.

With the 2024/25 season behind her, Gasser plans to spend the off-season relaxing and recharging before all eyes turn to Milano Cortina 2026.

“I need a big vacation this summer. I need a couple of weeks where I really take some time off my snowboard, go to the beach somewhere warm so that my batteries are reloaded for a big next year,” she said.

Regardless of what happens in 2026, Gasser hopes the next generation of female snowboarders following in her footsteps will appreciate the ride just as much as she has.

“Trust the process and enjoy the experience. Sometimes you’re in a tunnel, you don’t look at the whole picture," she said.