Japan has a new king of the halfpipe, while the greatest of all time left with his head held high at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Friday. Ayumu Hirano, who was given a low score on his perfect run, was redeemed with a near-perfect score taking the gold medal in the men’s halfpipe at the Genting Snow Park. Australia’s Scotty James took the silver, and Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer held on for bronze. American Shaun White ended his Olympic career in fourth that concluded his illustrious chapter of being the greatest of all time.
White nearly saw his final appearance at the Olympics come to a close in qualifications as his second run managed to get him into the final. The five-time Olympian scratched out a score of 86.25 on two occasions landing in fourth. The Hirano (Ayumu, Ruka) brothers topped the 35-year-old with 93.25 and 87.00 respectively. With their actions on the halfpipe, it left the American with trying to make his final Olympics a golden one for the fourth time or potentially miss out like he did in Sochi eight years ago.
The biggest surprise came from Kaishu Hirano, who got to the top with a 75.50 hitting two double cork 1080s and a frontside 1260. With such massive air on his tricks, the possibility of Japan running the podium was a real opportunity. American Taylor Gold topped the charts with an 81.75 that held for a time. White came down the pipe ninth and threw down a solid run with a 72 after a frontside double cork 1440 and a double mc twist 1260. Though it wasn’t clean, the 35-year-old had two more chances to perfect the run and get into medal contention.
Ayumu came out hot with two giant hits with one being the first triple cork landed at the Olympics. He had three hits in place before he fell on the fourth, but made a statement that he was aiming higher than ever. On the second run, Kaishu Hirano tried to get it down when he came out with a 24-foot tail grab but failed to complete his run entirely, bringing his chances down to one.
Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer topped Gold with an 87.25, using the same routine as his first and landing them well to jump to the top from fifth. White’s second run was the same but very much improved to score him an 85 to move into second. James went in focused on his second run and killed it with his combinations of a backside 1260 and a cab double cork 1440. The remainder of his hits were solid to get him into first with a 92.50.
Ayumu had a thrilling run that was ultimately successful throwing a triple cork and four doubles. What many thought would be the most unbeatable score, turned out to be a 91.75 which upset many spectators at the park. Though he had second place, there was only one chance for everyone to go and top James.
Kaishu Hirano went into his third run and set a world record with a 24-foot 4-inch tail grab despite failing to complete his Olympics in China. Scherrer also didn’t complete his run leaving him vulnerable to be surpassed. A Japanese sweep was no longer possible as Yuto Totsuka touched the wall after his third hit to give in for doing the rest. White went into the final run of his career and put down two double cork 1440s before his unfortunate fall. Embed from Getty Images
The American got up and gave a final bow to the crowd and sat in fourth where he was eight years ago. The Hirano brothers and James were last to fight for the gold medal with Ruka going first. He fell once more to take him out leaving Ayumu to go for it. The Aussie came down for his last and didn’t have a clean run, leaving it all in the hands of the 23-year-old. Ayumu put down his best ever, but it came down to the judges to get it right on a gold medal performance. He nailed a 96 to move James down to win the gold medal.
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