The 22-year-old began his gold-medal campaign on Friday with a frontside 1800 double tail grab which earned him 81.75.
Kimata fell heavily in his second run after attempting a backside 1980 melon, which resulted in a bloody nose and a score of 22.75. After receiving medical attention at the bottom of the course, Kimata returned to the top for run three and once again went for the backside 1980 and was rewarded with the highest score of the night to earn Japan’s second gold of the evening.
Silver went to Taiga Hasegawa, who looked set to defend his 2023 big air World Championships title before Kimata’s third run pushed Hasegawa’s total of 174.50 into second place.
Sixteen-year-old Oliver Martin of the USA claimed bronze with 171.50. Martin was the sole medallist of the evening who did not represent Japan, and his big air bronze medal is his second at these World Championships after he claimed slopestyle bronze on 21 March.
AloJapan.com