Japanese snowboarder Hirano Ayumu wins Halfpipe Gold at Beijing 2022, and his fans react
The 23-year-old is the first snowboard gold medallist in Japan's history, after claiming the men's halfpipe title at Beijing 2022. Viewers and commentators loved what they saw.
Snowboard
Hirano Ayumu has brought the men's snowboard halfpipe to a new echelon.
The snowboarding superstar from Japan landed a pair of triple corks at the Genting Snow Park to win his first gold medal at these Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 after claiming back-to-back silvers at PyeongChang 2018 and Sochi 2014.
Hirano won with an incredible score of 96.00, while Australia's Scotty James (92.50) and Jan Scherrer (87.25) of Switzerland finished with the silver and bronze respectively.
Three-time and defending Olympic champion Shaun White, competing in his fifth and final Olympics at the age of 35, finished just outside the medals in fourth place.
'Ayumu' means "walks the dream" in Japanese, and Hirano is now living his dream, having also competed in skateboarding at his home Olympics, Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
Hirano added to his already impressive legacy by becoming only the fifth athlete from Japan to feature in both the Olympic Summer and Winter Games.
Fans from around the world reacted and celebrated Hirano's incredible achievement in claiming halfpipe gold at Beijing 2022, including Japanese YouTube star Hikakin, who praised the snowboarder as 'The star of Niigata [prefecture in Japan]'