Winter X Games: Japan’s Ayumu Hirano still searching for key to Olympic gold despite another successful triple cork
- Japanese snowboarder lands triple-flipping jump but Scotty James takes top spot on podium at Winter X Games
- Next opportunity for Hirano to attempt trick on run for gold will be at Beijing Games on February 11
Ayumu Hirano landed the triple cork. Scotty James rode away with the win.
The calculus on the half-pipe remained hazy as ever on Saturday (Hong Kong time) when James notched his fourth career victory at the Winter X Games even though he did not attempt snowboarding’s most-difficult trick.
The question heading into the Olympics is whether it’s even worth it.
Less than five weeks after becoming the first to do it in competition, Hirano again landed a triple-flipping jump on his first trick. But, as was the case the first time, Hirano could not land the next jump. Riders usually need to land at least five to complete a run, and nobody has yet made a triple cork part of a full run in competition.
It left Hirano, the two-time Olympic silver medallist, with a silver medal in Aspen, as well. And James, who took bronze in Pyeongchang four years ago, earned another gold.
“The triple is so difficult,” Hirano said. “And then, it’s also tough to link the next trick.”
So far, James’ best has featured the switchback double cork 1260 – a daunting, near-blind trick that involves two head-over-heels flips after riding backward up the wall, then spinning toward the top of the pipe.