US snowboarder Julia Marino pulls out of Winter Olympics after Prada board dispute

Marino, 24, won silver in the snowboard slopestyle event but pulled out of the big air competition

Snowboarder Julia Marino has withdrawn from the Winter Olympics one week after winning a silver medal for the United States, having been threatened with disqualification due to a Prada logo on her board.

Marino took silver in snowboard slopestyle in Beijing last week but pulled out of Monday’s big air qualifier, citing the logo dispute with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and an injury she suffered after falling in practice.

In an Instagram story posted on Tuesday, Marino said per ESPN: “For everyone asking, the night before the big air comp the IOC told me they no longer approved my board even tho [sic] they had approved it for slope.

“They told me I would be disqualified if I didn’t cover the logo.”

Per Marino’s management, the IOC had said Prada’s Linea Rossa is not a legitimate sports brand – a term that is in part defined by “an identification of the manufacturer principally used in the business of manufacturing, providing, distributing and selling sporting goods”.

Marino had already been ordered to tape over her helmet’s Prada logo ahead of the slopestyle event, but her board was not mentioned.

Front Office Sports obtained a letter by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), in which vice president Dean Nakamura wrote to the IOC: “Covering the logo is not a feasible option. The logo is molded to the board and altering it would cause drag and interrupt the surface intended to glide.

“For these reasons, we ask the IOC to reconsider its position and allow Julia Marino to use the board used during the Snowboard Slopestyle competition.”

Marino’s team and the USOPC also argued that Linea Rossa is indeed a legitimate sports brand, though the IOC did not agree, leading the athlete to paint over the Prada logo before taking a second fall in practice following the one that caused her tailbone injury.

Marino, 24, subsequently withdrew from the big air event and wrote in her Instagram story: “Was just feeling pretty physically and mentally drained from this distraction and the slam I took.

“I was super hyped with how I did in slope, my main event, and decided not to risk further injury even tho [sic] that didn’t appear to be the top priority of the IOC.”