LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Japan's mastery in snowboarding might very well go beyond the halfpipe.
Hiroto Ogiwara finished at the top of the scoreboard in qualifying for big air Thursday night —- making the 20-year-old a legit gold-medal contender at the 2026 Winter Olympics for the country that boasts the reigning halfpipe champion, Ayumu Hirano, among its growing stable of top riders.
Ogiwara said his father was a snowboarder “and I was always a jumper, naturally,” so big air, where the jumps can range up to 20 meters (65 feet) high, made more sense for him.
Ogiwara smashed the record books for snowboarding at the 2025 X Games when he landed the first 2,340-degree jump (six-and-a-half rotations) in competition.
As for Hirano, who is seven years older, Ogiwara said, “I always looked up to him. He's a legend of Japanese snowboarding.”
A legend who may soon have company.
While Ogiwara finished atop the scoreboard with 178.5 points from his best two runs, an Italian was right behind him.
Home favorite Ian Matteoli was second with 174.5 points, giving the Italian fans a reason to cheer as the snowboarding events kicked off at the Milan Cortina Games.
Kira Kimura of Japan was third with 173.25, ahead of reigning gold medalist Su Yiming of China in fourth with 172.25.
Only one American, Oliver Martin, was in the top 12 to advance to Saturday’s final after finishing ninth.
Big air consists of one single jump off a huge ramp, where the rider varies spins, flips and holds of the board. The Livigno ramp peaks at over 40 meters (yards), sending the riders soaring down a landing slope that was lit by floodlights for the nighttime event.
Riders jump three times in qualifying. Their top two jumps are combined for a final score while the worst jump is dropped.
Big air is the third of the snowboarding park events along with the halfpipe and slopestyle course. Livigno, a small skiing town nestled in a snow-covered valley in the Italians Alps, will also host the freestyle skiing aerials and moguls.
AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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