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Associated Press
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Ayumu Hirano, the Olympic champion snowboarder, has a new, more important title: dad
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — The biggest life-changer in snowboard champion Ayumu Hirano's life since he won an Olympic gold medal: He became a father. That, as much as triple corks or big airs, has been his focus over the last few months and doesn't figure to change much, even as he ramps up his run for a repeat at the Olympics next year. 'My private life, outside of snowboarding, is to enjoy spending time with my child,' the Japanese rider told The Associated Press as he prepared for the debut of The Snow League, a new pro halfpipe circuit being fronted by Shaun White. 'And practicing.' What, exactly, the 26-year-old champion is practicing is something he'd rather people find out by watching him on the halfpipe. Three years ago, Hirano redefined what's possible by landing a once-unthinkable triple cork — that's three head-over-heels flips — as part of a winning run at the Olympics. Odds are good that the triple cork will be key to whatever he brings to the Italian Alps next February. But in a nod to the realities of riding the halfpipe — a triple cork scores well only if the rest of the run works, too — Hirano said he is concentrating every bit as much on the other jumps, grabs and transitions that could also make or break him. 'If I focus on the overall performance, I think that I can minimize the risk that doing (big) tricks brings,' he said. 'However, the overall composition has become very high level. How I can come up with a new trick within that composition is my challenge, and I am looking forward to it.' Hirano does not divulge much about anything outside the halfpipe. He wouldn't reveal his baby's name and even demurred when asked if his child was a boy or a girl. 'Not yet,' he said when asked for the details. Lingering beneath that privacy is the question of whether, as the defending Olympic champion, he has any desire to assume a spot that White has held for the last two decades: the face of professional snowboarding. It's not easy, and those with short memories might forget that Hirano already has been out there for more than a dozen years. His first big splash, in fact, came at the same mountain he's competing on this week, where he won a silver medal at the Winter X Games at 14 to become the youngest athlete to reach the podium in one of his sport's marquee events. That set him up to be labeled as the wunderkind who someday was going to be White at the Olympics. But that took time. He won silver medals in 2014 and 2018 — the second of those in a spirited battle with White, who snatched away the gold medal, his third, by landing every trick on a run he had never completed successfully before. 'I've seen his arc and his career, where he came out swinging and he had so much tension, so much pressure,' White said. 'I think that kind of hurt his trajectory a little. But he came back and he's in the spot of heading into the Olympics being the top guy. 'The fact he landed that last run at the Olympics shows he's got some grit to him.' The final run White speaks of came in 2022 when, after landing the triple cork on his second run, he still found himself in second place behind Australian Scotty James. Hirano came back, repeated the trick and, that time, got the score and the gold medal that came with it. And that's how Japan ended up with a snowboard champion. Hirano's star, already a bright one back home, started radiating even further. White said it was hard to miss the life-size posters of the 5-foot-5 Hirano hawking athletic gear at a mall in Sydney earlier this month. For Hirano the snowboarder, the fame isn't something he seeks — it simply goes with the territory. For Hirano the dad, being really good at what he does has a new meaning now — he's not just doing it for himself. 'I feel like I have to do it right to leave my legacy for this child's future,' he said. 'I'm fortunate to continue doing things I love, and I feel that I can keep on competing, not just with my own will but with my family. The family has become the source of my energy.'
Associated Press
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Shaun White kicks off new league with visions of snowboarding riches on the halfpipe
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Shaun White's next trick might carry more risk than the flips and twists he pulled off for decades inside all those halfpipes he used to dominate. This time, it's about making magic — and money — for the generation of snowboarders who looked up to him for all those years. This week in Aspen marks the debut of The Snow League — a $1.6 million, four-stop halfpipe tour dreamed up by White and backed by deep-pocketed sports investors. If successful, it will bring order to snowboarding's otherwise confusing competition schedule and usher in a new age for a sport that, for generations, held a wary view of riding for medals and money. 'I want to make it so you can have a decent season on the tour and make a great living, that's the goal,' said White, expressing what seems obvious for almost any pro sport but hasn't always been so clear-cut in the world of halfpipe. 'I'd like to see a pathway,' he said. 'In traditional sports, it's like, you start as an amateur, then you play high school, and then go to college and get into the pros. For this, I want the same.' The world's most famous rider takes on a new role White kicked off action Friday with an exhibition run through the halfpipe. His last official trip is now more than three years in the rearview mirror, when he capped off his fifth Olympics with an emotional farewell at the 2022 Beijing Games. With the next Winter Olympics less than a year away — the first time since 2002 they won't include the sport's biggest star — it's clear the 38-year-old's three gold medals don't fully speak to the impact he's had on snowboarding, both on and off the mountain. His appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2006 was the opening salvo on a mission to portray snowboarders as more than stoner kids in baggy pants taking over resorts. 'It was giving attention to the sport and making it feel more professional,' White said. 'Like, every time I showed up on a talk show, I'm in a suit. I'm trying to carry a professionalism that would hopefully resonate within the sport.' Being the best has little to do with being a 'world champion' Not everyone went along for that ride. A moment that stuck with White — and in a way led to what went down Friday on a sun-splashed halfpipe dug into the same mountain as the Winter X Games he once dominated — came when he was 16. 'I had an undefeated season — halfpipe, slopestyle, rail jam, big air, everything,' he said. 'I got to the end of the season and an interviewer said 'Great season, but how does it feel to not be the world champion?' I wasn't upset, but it was a clear picture of how disconnected all the events are.' Aside from the Olympics turning into the sport's centerpiece, not much else changed in the ensuing 22 years. Great riders span the globe, but rarely convene at the same time. There are crystal globes awarded for the best snowboarders over a World Cup season, but that circuit has never been considered the most prestigious in an ecosphere filled with the Dew Tour, X Games, Burton U.S. Open and other stops. White's league is trying to solve one problem, by linking with other circuits to offer qualifying points for the Olympics — a move that gives riders incentive to participate. The other is the $1.6 million prize pool for Season One — 'a starting point,' White calls it. The Snow League will pay out $50,000 first prizes for both men and women, along with a $50,000 prize for the champion of the four-event series that, in its inaugural run, will spread over 13 months, ending in March 2026. More notable might be the $5,000 appearance fees for every athlete, along with a guaranteed $2,500 minimum win for the eight riders who make the final. By comparison, eighth place at a World Cup event in Switzerland last month was worth about $800. 'We put a lot of time and effort and obviously, we're all professional athletes,' said Maddie Mastro, the best American rider this side of Chloe Kim and among the favorites in Saturday's final. 'It's not as casual as some might think. We're working our butts off to make this our career, make this our life, and it's nice to have more support and feel valued.' White's model puts new spin on 'progression' in the halfpipe The word 'progression' infiltrates snowboarding's world of flips and spins on a daily basis. The ethos of pushing the envelope might be best encapsulated by Ayumu Hirano, the 26-year-old Japanese superstar whose 'triple cork' — three head-over-heels flips — won the Beijing Olympics and redefined what was possible on a halfpipe. Among White's biggest coups as he put together his league was to get Hirano to sign on. The Snow League will add halfpipe skiing at its next event, in China in December, and if White can close a deal to bring Olympic champion Eileen Gu onto that circuit, he'll have arguably the biggest star in action sports. 'The fact it's run by Shaun would generate huge interest in his events,' Hirano said. 'And because of this, many snowboarders will improve their performances and encourage more young athletes in the future.' Hirano also gave a nod to a new competition template White is introducing with the goal of rethinking a judged sport that is difficult for non-experts to understand. In the finals, riders will be placed into brackets for four rounds of one-on-one showdowns. Each round will be best of three, and riders must enter the halfpipe from opposite sides for the first two rounds. (It's harder to recognize on a snowboard, but it's the equivalent of skiing in forward for one run and backward on the next.) The format lends a new element of strategy to the proceedings — what do you do if your opponent goes first and lands a killer run? — and forces riders, who often spend a season perfecting their two or three most comfortable routines, to imagine new ways of heading down the halfpipe. 'I wouldn't view it as a stresser, but it's definitely something different,' Mastro said. 'It probably will be a challenge tomorrow.' A trip out of the comfort zone for White and the rest of snowboarding White has spent a career trying to lift both himself and his sport out of their comfort zones. Though he is no stranger to business — he's had apparel lines and even another snowboarding/music tour, Air & Style — this one holds extra weight. White is putting his name behind a concept that could change the sport or, if things don't go well, fade into obscurity and leave snowboarding fractured. As with every risk he's taken on the halfpipe, White knows there's no going in halfway when making a move that feels like all-or-nothing. 'Having that clear path for the next generation is great,' he said. 'It'll give people the confidence to lean into this sport, and give them a place to perform, and to me, that's what's so exciting.'
CBC
23-02-2025
- Sport
- CBC
American teen wins snowboard slopestyle gold in Calgary
Teenage American snowboarder Oliver Martin swears he broke no laws Saturday in celebrating his first World Cup medal — a gold — in men's snowboard slopestyle. The legal drinking age in Alberta is 18, and 16-year-old Martin was doused with a bubbly beverage on the podium at Winsport's Canada Olympic Park. "It was apple cider — yeah, I checked," he said during a break from signing autographs and posing for photos in the finish area. "I feel amazing. I just couldn't be more happy with the way it went today. It's my first World Cup podium. So for it to be gold is just crazy." Following a strategic game plan, Martin delivered a clean, conservative performance for a first-run score of 80.60. That proved good enough for gold, with big name after big name crashing as the course conditions deteriorated on a windy day in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Gerard Redmond of the U.S. seized silver with 78.63 points. Norway's Marcus Kleveland captured bronze with 75.65 points. "I just decided to play it safe today," said Martin, of Vail, Colo. "Just do the run that suits the conditions and suits what I feel capable of doing." Martin, who towers over most of his competitors at six foot one, planned to further celebrate his first World Cup victory with dinner at the revolving restaurant at the Calgary Tower. Cameron Spalding, of Havelock, Ont., arrived in Calgary ranked No. 1 in the World Cup standings. Fellow Canadian Liam Brearley, of Gravenhurst, Ont., sat at No. 2. On Saturday, both Spalding and Brearley spluttered in the slushy conditions with the temperature hovering around 8 C. "The snow was definitely a bit better at the start when we were doing practice," said Spalding, who finished 16th. "The wind picked up in the contest. The snow got a little bit softer, a little bit slower. It was a little bit hard to judge. "You could make a bunch of excuses for not landing, but that's just how it goes." Brearley, who placed 14th,echoed those sentiments. "I'm definitely pretty bummed," he said. "I don't know. I thought I could have done pretty well if I had landed what I wanted to. But that's how it goes sometimes." Mark McMorris of Regina finished 25th in his Thursday qualifying heat and did not advance. McMorris, 31, is a three-time Olympic bronze medallist and an 11-time Winter X Games gold medallist. Truth Smith was the top Canadian on the men's side on Saturday, finishing 13th for a personal best "My parents' names are Ben and Julie Smith," the 20-year-old from Whistler, B.C., said of his unusual moniker. "They decided to help me out a little bit and named me Truth. I don't know if it was a marketing scheme or what the plan was. "I think my dad probably planned on it. He's a shredder at heart. And my mom is also a shredder. I kind of came out of the womb on a snowboard." In women's World Cup action Saturday morning, Japan's Mari Fukada won slopestyle gold with 77.58 points. Annika Morgan, of Germany captured silver with 76.30 points and Mia Brookes, of Great Britain, claimed bronze with 74.08 points. Laurie Blouin, of Stoneham, Que., placed eighth with 55.83 points. The 28-year-old won slopestyle silver at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and finished just off the slopestyle podium in fourth at Beijing 2022.
USA Today
27-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Japanese snowboarder, Italian skier land historic 2340s to win X Games
Japanese snowboarder, Italian skier land historic 2340s to win X Games Until Friday, no big-air snowboarder or skier had ever landed a 2340 − which is a whopping six and a half rotations − in competition. By Saturday night, it had happened twice. Japanese snowboarder Hiroto Ogiwara and Italian skier Miro Tabanelli became the first men in their respective sports to land 2340s, breaking barriers en route to victories in big air snowboard and big air ski, respectively, at the 2025 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. Ogiwara, 19, achieved the feat first on Friday night, stunning the crowd at Buttermilk Mountain with his first run in the finals to earn a score of 97.33 and edge compatriot Taiga Hasegawa, who finished second after landing a six-revolution trick, known as a 2160. The feat was all the more remarkable given that, according to organizers, Ogiwara had fractured his forearm earlier in the day. "I am the first in the world to do that. I've never been as happy as this," Ogiwara told reporters after landing the 2340, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News. "It was really the greatest moment. It felt as if I used every ounce of energy I had." It wasn't the first time Ogiwara had made snowboarding history, either. A few years ago, at 16, he also became the first person in his sport to land the 2160. A six-and-a-half rotation trick once seemed unfathomable in winter sports, even in big air, where athletes launch themselves off a 75-foot jump. But less than 24 hours after Ogiwara achieved the feat with a snowboard, Tabanelli followed it up on skis to win his own big air discipline Saturday. He took gold with a score a 98.00. "The vibe of X Games is unreal, the conditions were crazy, the final was the craziest final I've ever experienced - just savage," Tabanelli told reporters, according to an X Games news release. :"I am just really stoked about it!' Contact Tom Schad at tschad@ or on social media @
