Snowboards were first developed in 1965 by Michigan-based engineer Sherman Poppen. Poppen designed the first board as a toy for his children, which he achieved by strapping two skis together. The snowboard industry has come a long way over the last five-plus decades, with roughly 8.6 million Americans participating in the winter sport every year. Snowboarding also has global appeal and is featured in major international sports competitions, including the Winter Olympics.
Snowboarding made its Olympic debut at the Nagano Games in 1998, just 33 years after the invention of the first snowboard. Snowboarding was part of an expansion program at the Olympics between 1992 and 2002. Five new events were added during this period. Snowboarding was the only new event with no history at the event, bypassing the demonstration stage and debuting as an official Olympic sport. The 1998 games featured men's and women's events for giant slalom, downhill, and the halfpipe for four events.
The first snowboarding competition at the Olympics was an international affair: eight nations won 12 medals, with four countries winning gold medals. German athlete Nicola Thost won gold in halfpipe, and Heidi Renoth secured the silver in giant slalom with a downhill run of two minutes and 17 seconds.
The snowboarding program remained the same four years later in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the results differed. The United States won five medals, including a sweep of the men's halfpipe and a gold in the women's halfpipe, with France and Switzerland combining for five additional medals.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) expanded the snowboarding program in 2006 by adding the snowboard cross event, a downhill race featuring jumps and various obstacles. The US continued to excel, winning seven medals and three golds, followed by Switzerland with four and three golds. The event marked the debut of Shaun White, one of America's most decorated Olympic athletes. White won a gold medal for his performance in the men's halfpipe event.
Nine nations medaled in snowboarding at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The home nation won two golds, tied for first with the US, and three medals overall, trailing America's five. Americans Shaun White and Seth Wescott defended their golds in halfpipe and snowboard cross, respectively. One year after the conclusion of the third snowboard program at the Olympics, the IOC added slopestyle competitions to both the ski and snowboard programs.
Sage Kotsenburg and Jamie Anderson, both from the US, won the first slopestyle golds in snowboarding at the 2014 games in Sochi. The US led the field again with three golds and five total medals. It was the most globalized competition yet, with 14 nations winning a medal and 10 nations earning multiple medals.
America was the only nation to win multiple golds at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. It was the largest snowboarding program in Olympic history following the addition of the Big Air event, with 30 medals distributed among 17 nations. America's dominance was challenged in 2022, with the US and Austria finishing with three golds and one silver medal.
America is the winningest nation in Olympic snowboarding history. The US leads the gold medal race 14 to eight over Switzerland, with a total medal count of 31 compared to Switzerland's 13.
