Ayumu Hirano is a Japanese three-time Olympic medalist snowboarder and Olympic skateboarder. He won the silver medal in the superpipe in 2013 Winter X Games XVII at the age of 14, becoming the youngest.
Ayumu Hirano: Triple cork| Race| Final run| How old is| Height
Triple Cork:
The triple cork was considered the next-level trick of these Olympics. Only Hirano had landed it in a competition earlier this winter, but he fell later during that run. No one had landed the triple cork and completed a contest run upright — until now.
Hirano is small in stature, and his triple cork was a tight ball. It consisted of three flips performed on an off-axis rotation (like a corkscrew), and Hirano did it while grabbing his board with both hands.
Race:
The men’s halfpipe final at Genting Snow Park was one of the Olympics’ most anticipated events. Four Japanese snowboarders had realistic chances for places on the podium, and Australia’s Scotty James came hungry for a gold medal. And then there was White, the three-time gold medalist, who was making his final Olympics appearance.
It was a feat of athleticism so daring that no other competitor even tried it. Hirano did it without hesitation, landing it as the opening maneuver on all three of his runs.
Final run:
Japan’s Ayumu Hirano soared to gold at the men’s snowboard halfpipe final on Friday at the Beijing Games, while a tearful Shaun White said he was thankful for his final run despite just missing out on the podium in his fifth and last Olympics.
Hirano, who won silver at the Pyeongchang 2018 and Sochi Games 2014, went into his third and final run in second place, under pressure to top Australian Scotty James who threw down a double cork 1440 with a tail grab on his second run.
How old is:
Seemingly not phased by the pressure, Hirano dropped into his final run, catching more than five metres of air to land a triple cork, an advanced trick the Japanese boarder introduced for the first time ever at competitions in December.
Height:
1.65 m
Three-time gold medallist White, who has said this would be his final Olympics and his last time competing professionally, finished in fourth place after clipping the lip of the halfpipe on his third run and sliding down the wall feet-first.
Removing his helmet to hear the applause of the crowd one last time, White cruised slowly down to the finish to await his final score. With tears streaming down his face, the 35-year-old hugged his fellow competitors, many of whom call him their hero.
