Japanese snowboarders dominate Copper halfpipe with five out of six podium spots
Dec 20, 2024·Snowboard Park & Pipe)
Snowboarder Ayumu Hirano has led a men’s halfpipe clean sweep for Japan while his 15-year-old compatriot Sara Shimizu claimed her first career World Cup victory with an exceptional performance in the women’s competition at the FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup in Copper Mountain (USA) on Friday.
Dropping in on just the second World Cup competition of her young career, Shimizu was the first to secure a Copper Mountain victory for Japan, putting down a hugely impressive 90.50 in her first run of the women’s final.
While some others came close, no woman was able to match the 15-year-old’s high score, with China’s Cai Xuetong taking second place on 88.50 points and Mitsuki Ono (JPN) rounding out the women’s podium in third on 88.50.
The 15-year-old took the win with a first run that began with a frontside 900 tail grab followed by a backside 900 Weddle grab, before going frontside 720 frontside grab, cab 720 Weddle grab, crippler frontside grab, and backside 540 Weddle to finish things off.
Copper Mountain is only Shimizu’s second FIS Snowboard World Cup event after the 15-year-old made her debut during the halfpipe season opener in Secret Garden (CHN) earlier in December. At that event, Shimizu finished fifth after qualifying in the top spot.
With Friday’s second-place finish, Cai has now extended her all-time FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe podium record to 33, and the 31-year-old also overtook the USA’s Maddie Mastro as the current halfpipe World Cup leader with two competitions in the books.
After topping qualifications on Wednesday, the USA’s Chloe Kim finished just outside the podium on Friday in fourth place with a score of 86.75. Fellow American Maddie Schaffrick rounded up the top five with a score of 84.50.
In the men’s halfpipe final, Japan’s Yuto Totsuka looked set to win with a high score of 94.75 until countryman and Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games halfpipe champion Ayumu Hirano scored an astronomical 97.00 on his third and final run.
Up until that third run, 26-year-old Hirano looked to be in a tough spot after failing to put down a clean top-to-bottom and holding a score of just 37.75 for his first run effort.
But Hirano left nothing behind in his last run, landing his signature frontside triple 1440 Weddle, followed by a cab 1440 Weddle, then a frontside double cork 1260 frontside grab, a backside double cork 1260 Weddle, and then holding on for a frontside 1080 frontside grab on the final hit.
Hirano’s high score pushed Totsuka to second place with a score of 94.75, while Ruka Hirano finished third with 92.75 to give the Japanese men’s squad its fourth podium sweep in FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup history. Totsuka alone has now been part of three of Japan’s podium sweeps, and Friday’s second-place finish marked his 20th World Cup podium in halfpipe.
Totsuka also won the halfpipe season opener in Secret Garden, China earlier in December and Friday’s result puts him 30 points ahead of his closest rival, Ayumu Hirano, in the men’s halfpipe World Cup standings.
Australia’s Scotty James, who led the Copper competition for much of the finals after banking a first run score of 87.75, ultimately finished fourth despite upping his third-run score to 91.50. Reigning halfpipe World Champion Chaeun Lee (KOR) finished fifth on 86.50.
The next halfpipe event of the 2024/25 FIS Snowboard World Cup season will take place in Laax, Switzerland on 17 and 18 January 2025.
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