(Beijing) Japan’s Ayumu Hirano won the gold medal in the snowboarding halfpipe event at the Beijing Olympics on Friday.
Updated yesterday at 10:34 p.m.
Hirano had a spectacular third and final run at Genting Snow Park and earned a total of 96.00 points. No other snowboarder could dislodge him from the top step of the podium.
The 23-year-old Hirano had been waiting for that gold medal for at least eight years. He won the silver medal in the halfpipe at the Sochi Games in 2014 and the PyeongChang Games in 2018.
Australian Scotty James won the silver medal with a score of 92.50 on his second run. Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer took the bronze medal, scoring 87.25 points on his second run.
In his last career meet, American Shaun White tried everything on his last run, but he settled for a fourth-place finish with a total of 85.00 points.
PHOTO BEN STANSALL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Shaun White
When he got to the bottom of the track, White received a standing ovation from the other riders and the crowd scattered around the site.
No Canadians made the final in this discipline, after Liam Gill took 23and position out of 25 riders during qualifying.