LIVIGNO, Italy – Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa won snowboard slopestyle silver on Wednesday at the Milan Cortina Games, his first Olympic medal, as China’s Su Yiming earned gold.
Hasegawa, who has traditionally had more success in the big air event, scored 82.13 points on his first run at Livigno Snow Park, leaving him just 0.28 behind Su, the silver medalist in this event at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
Jake Canter of the United States won bronze after being awarded 79.36 for his final run.
Hasegawa combined a cab 1440 and 1620 mute grab with a variety of boardslides on his best run.
The 20-year-old finished just 11th in the big air earlier in the games, the event in which he is a former world champion.
Milan Cortina big air silver medalist Ryoma Kimata was only able to finish 11th in the slopestyle final, with the 23-year-old Japanese scoring 72.80 on his first run.
The medal is Japan’s record 20th of the ongoing games, with the nation improving further on its previous highest total of 18 set at the Beijing Olympics in 2022.
AloJapan.com