Japan’s dominance in snowboard park-and-pipe competition at the Winter Olympics Milan Cortina 2026 reached another milestone Friday night, as Yuto Totsuka delivered a historic performance to win gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe final.
Under the lights in Italy, Totsuka produced one of the most technically advanced runs ever seen in Olympic halfpipe competition. The 2021 world champion opened with back-to-back triple cork 1440s and closed with a pair of double corks, earning a 95.00 score that ultimately proved untouchable in what many observers called the most progressive Olympic halfpipe contest in the sport’s history.
Australia’s Scotty James, competing in his fifth Olympic Games, appeared poised to finally capture the elusive gold medal that had long defined his career pursuit. After posting a 93.50, James entered his final run needing an upgrade to reclaim the lead. Attempting to finish with a 1620, he fell on his last hit, settling for silver after previously winning bronze in PyeongChang and silver in Beijing.
Japan’s depth in the discipline was on full display. Ryusei Yamada claimed bronze, while teammate Ruka Hirano finished fourth. Meanwhile, Ayumu Hirano, the reigning Olympic champion from Beijing, placed seventh in a field defined by rapid technical progression.
The result underscored a remarkable transformation for Japan in Olympic halfpipe snowboarding. At the event’s Olympic debut at the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics, Japanese riders finished 28th, 30th, 34th, and 36th in a 36-man field. Nearly three decades later, Japan now stands at the forefront of the sport’s evolution.
Friday’s final also highlighted how quickly halfpipe snowboarding continues to advance. Ten of the 12 finalists attempted or landed a triple cork, compared to just one rider — Ayumu Hirano — accomplishing the feat in the Olympic final four years ago. Totsuka further cemented his place in the sport’s progression by becoming only the third rider ever to land a switch backside 1440 in competition, following Ruka Hirano and Scotty James earlier this season.
With victories in men’s halfpipe, men’s big air, and women’s big air, Japan has claimed three of four snowboard park-and-pipe gold medals so far in Milan Cortina, along with half of the 12 total medals awarded in those disciplines, with slopestyle still to come.
For the United States, the final marked another difficult Olympic result in the event. Jake Pates, Alessandro Barbieri, and Chase Josey finished eighth, tenth, and eleventh, respectively. It is the first time the U.S. has missed the men’s halfpipe podium at consecutive Olympics, after earning medals in four straight Games from the event’s debut in 1998 through 2010.
Watching from the base of the pipe was snowboarding icon Shaun White, marking the first Olympics since 2002 without him competing. The three-time Olympic gold medalist concluded his legendary Olympic career at the Beijing Games in 2022, where he finished fourth.
On a night defined by innovation, risk, and precision, Totsuka’s flawless run not only secured Olympic gold — it symbolized a new era in halfpipe snowboarding, one increasingly shaped by Japan’s technical mastery and fearless progression.
