Japan's Kira Kimura threw down a giant final run Saturday night in the men's snowboard big air final to capture Japan's first-ever gold in the event at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
His Run 3 switch backside 1980 garnered the highest individual score of the evening (90.50), giving him a total of 179.50 and knocking his teammate Ryoma Kimata out of 1st place. Kimata took home the silver medal with a score of 171.50.
American Ollie Martin, a 17-year-old high school senior, sat in 2nd at 163.00 with nine riders to go, but was ultimately bumped off the podium by eventual bronze medalist Su Yiming of China, the Olympic champion from the 2022 Beijing Games.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard confirmed afterward that the teenager from Wolcott, Colorado, competed in the event with a broken arm.
Kimura, making his Olympic debut, combined a near perfect first-run backside 1980 melon (89.00) with the aforementioned final-run switch backside 1980 Weddle (19.50). He sat on his heels when landing his second run.
The 21-year-old finished 3rd in the event at January's Winter X Games and has yet to win a World Cup event on the international circuit.
Japan entered these Games with contenders across nearly all park and pipe events. This first result shows they're for real.
“The key is what we do in the offseason," Kimura said of Japan's advancement in the sport. "In the summer, we practice on the airbags, and our coaches are very good with teaching us technique. … The way we spend our offseason is crucial to our good result here.”
Su went big on all three runs, landing deep on a first-run backside 1980, flying for nearly three seconds of air time on a second-run switch backside 1980 and dragging a hand on his third run to edge Martin.
Bronze gives him a third career Olympic medal, having also captured slopestyle silver in 2022. No snowboarder in Olympic history has more than three medals, meaning Su has a chance to break that tie later when he competes in slopestyle.
Thursday's top qualifier Hiroto Ogiwara, also from Japan, finished 12th on a frustrating day. The two-time reigning Winter X Games champion uncharacteristically fell on all three of his jumps; on his last — a glory run — he attempted a 2340 — six and a half rotations.
Most athletes will now shift focus to the slopestyle event, which begins with qualifying Monday, Feb. 16, and wraps up competition in the sport.
Men's snowboard big air final
- 🥇 Kira Kimura (179.50)
- 🥈 Ryoma Kimata (171.50)
- 🥉 Su Yiming (168.50)
- Ollie Martin (163.00)
- Ian Matteoli (162.50)
- Dane Menzies (160.75)
- Francis Jobin (149.50)
- Lyon Farrell (124.25)
- Rocco Jamieson (112.25)
- Valentino Guseli (103.25)
- Taiga Hasegawa (100.50)
- Hiroto Ogiwara (34.75)