The Olympic snowboarder Chris Corning is a dutiful conformist in a sport renowned for its proud legacy of nonconformity.
While many snowboarders pump themselves up before a competitive run with loud music, whoops or self-motivating shrieks, Corning prefers quiet.
“I’m a big fan of competing with no emotion,” said Corning, an American who will compete in the big air event at the Beijing Games starting Monday after placing sixth in slopestyle. “People like to get over excited. I’m not very good at that.”
Corning, who narrowly missed winning a medal at the Winter Olympics in 2018, when he finished fourth in the big air competition, spends hours studying film of his tricks with the discipline of a N.