What does DNI mean at the Olympics? A breakdown of the scoring abbreviations

DNI, DNS, DNF… Olympic scoring features plenty of abbreviations, and each event might look different.

So how can you know what to expect?

If you were watching the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals Thursday you may have been monitoring the scores in what became a nail-biting finish. But with so many falls and unfinished runs, the board may have looked a little confusing.

In snowboarding halfpipe, the riders each have three chances to land their best-scoring run. The medal determination is made by whichever run had the highest score, not a cumulation of all three runs.

That means, that only certain scores make it onto the board. Others, might see things like DNI, or in some cases DNS.

Here’s a breakdown:

DNI – Does not improve

DNS – Did not start

Essentially, if a rider’s score is lower than the previous run, they’ll get a “DNI” on the scoresheet. If a rider is injured and unable to continue with their runs, they’ll see a DNS.

In timed events, like alpine skiing’s super-G, the designation DNF may be used. DNF stands for “did not finish.”

That is because a skier must finish the event to be eligible for a medal.

For example, a particularly challenging super-G course saw 17 of 42 riders with a “DNF” designation instead of a time Thursday. Meanwhile, multiple snowboarders in the snowboard cross event were given DNF designations if they crashed during the race and did not complete it.