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ÉKIN, China — Japan’s Ayumu Hirano won gold in the halfpipe snowboard event at the Beijing Olympics on Friday.
Hirano had a spectacular third and final run at Genting Snow Park and earned a total of 96.00 points. No other snowboarder could dislodge him from the top step of the podium.
The 23-year-old Hirano had been waiting for that gold medal for at least eight years. He won the silver medal in the halfpipe at the Sochi Games in 2014 and the Pyeongchang Games in 2018.
Australian Scotty James won the silver medal with a score of 92.50 on his second run. Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer took the bronze medal, scoring 87.25 points on his second run.
White settles for 4th before farewell
In his last career meet, American Shaun White tried everything on his last run, but he settled for a fourth-place finish with a total of 85.00 points.
When he got to the bottom of the track, a visibly emotional White received a standing ovation from the other snowboarders and the crowd scattered around the venue.
No Canadians made the final in this discipline, after Liam Gill took 23rd place out of 25 riders in qualifying.
