The 2022 Winter Olympics has had many fantastic moments but none as nail biting as the men’s half pipe final.
With so many big names in the final, it could have been anyone game to win but ultimately the winner was Ayumu Hirano.
Described by some as the biggest final of all time, it also involved some huge air and some impressive tricks but none more impressive than Ayumu Hirano final run.
With only one run left and currently in second place, Ayumu knew he would have to pull out all the stops in order to beat Scotty James’s impressive score of 92.50 and what he did will go down in half pipe history.
Off his first hit Ayumu landed a 1440 triple cork, a trick that takes snowboarding to another level. The frontside 1260 on the second hit followed by a backside 1260.
Costly Error
The run was looking like the prefect and was closing in on Scotty James’s score, for the 4th and 5th hit, Ayumu landed back to 1440’s and scored a huge 96.00. It was one of the best, if not the best run in half pipe history and he thoroughly deserved the gold medal.
2nd place went to Scotty James’s, a snowboarder from Australia who poured his heart and soul into his 92.50 run and was in first place up until Ayumu last run.
James tried his hardest to increase the distant between him and Ayumu on the leader board but in order to score better, he pushed too hard and made an error which unfortunately cost him the gold.
Jan Scherrer, 27 year old from Switzerland took the bronze medal position after an impressive run which ended with his unique switch alley-oop 900 which the judges loved, scoring him 87.25 and for a time, he held the first place position.
Last Winter Olympics
Shaun White appeared at his fifth Winter Olympic games, and everyone was wondering if he would be taking home is 4th gold medal for the half pipe event.
After having a two really good runs, White was comfortably in 4th place with a score of 85 and looked like he was going for a medal position with his third run, however just like Scotty James’s, he tried to go bigger and better but unfortunately it was not meant to be, and he ended up in 4th.
After a fantastic career in the Olympics and 3 gold medals under his belt, Shaun White announced his retirement for the Winter Olympics.
This half pipe final was a battle of the titans and in the end, Ayumu Hirano came out on top, and his run will be remembered as one of the finest in snowboarding history.
