Japanese trio impress to move into women's snowboard big air final

She'll be glad they switched those chimneys off for the games.

Big air, Great photo!

“Reira Iwabuchi of Japan competes during the women's snowboard big air qualifications at the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Monday.  Photo: AP/Jae C Hong” -

Blue skies and resting smokestacks in Beijing are also a big surprise.

Congratulations to Kokomo Murase, Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka who took three of the top five slots!

Brave talented sportswomen (athletes) in my idiolect.

I don’t know about the athletes’ performance but those chimneys look impressive!

The "chimneys" seen in the background are cooling towers for a steel mill that ceased operation more than 15 years ago. When operational, they acted as heat exchangers to cool liquid circulant (water), and did not release any gaseous waste other than water vapour.

I hope that such performances bring joy to the fans, lots of riches to Lord Thomas Bach and the IOC, and glory to the Sun King Xi Jinping!

No better venue for a celebration of sport and peace than an environmental hellscape run by a country that engages in blatant human rights abuses against its own citizens.

Go Xi Jinping!

No better venue for a celebration of sport and peace than an environmental hellscape run by a country that engages in blatant human rights abuses against its own citizens.

And we can't get enough of their shiny baubles.

The photo reminds me of the iconic Pink Floyd album cover for Animals.

Lotsa talent on the Japanese teams!

That's awesome but watching Japanese TV you get the impression that they are really dominating the Olympics...

Nice descriptive article and congratulations to the Japanese athletes

The photo Looks like a cross between a pink Floyd albun and a magic carpet ride.

Looks like Reira sailing through a football goal post on a snow board.

Go japan!!..