By Lisa Richwine
LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 18 (Reuters) – China’s Su Yiming celebrated his 22nd birthday by winning the men’s snowboard slopestyle final with an unbeatable first run that handed his country their first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Olympics on Wednesday.
Taiga Hasegawa of Japan took silver, while Jake Canter claimed bronze for the United States.
Su, the slopestyle silver medallist at Beijing 2022, started the first of three runs with impressive jumps and clean landings for a score of 82.41 under sunny skies in the Alpine town of Livigno. None of the 11 other competitors could reach him.
Hasegawa’s highest score of the day was 82.13.
The Chinese rider yelled with excitement and clapped his hands when he realised he had won gold. Su shed tears as his coaches and competitors congratulated him, and he shook his head in disbelief as he stood on the medal podium.
Su beamed when asked how he would celebrate his medal, his birthday and the Chinese Lunar New Year.
“To have all my friends, my family here, I think we are going to have a good time,” he said. “As long as I got this gold, I think all this celebration is going to be insane.”
CONTEST DELAYED BY SNOWSTORM
The slopestyle contest had been delayed by a day when a snowstorm forced organisers to rework the schedule.
Su won bronze in the men’s big air last week, having claimed the title four years ago. The 22-year-old said he felt “crazy pressure” in that event as the defending gold medallist.
He said he also felt pressure on Wednesday to win a gold for China. “That’s what I’ve been thinking for so many days after the big air,” he added.
Su said he “almost forgot the feeling from four years ago” of winning gold. “To be able to get one more today, it means everything to me,” he explained.
In slopestyle, riders navigate rails and other obstacles and perform aerial tricks to impress the judges with difficulty and originality. The best score from three runs determines the winner.
Mark McMorris, who has three Olympic slopestyle bronze medals, finished eighth after crashing on two of his three runs.
The oldest competitor in the field at 32, the Canadian suffered a concussion at the start of his fourth Games and had to skip the big air event.
“I knew I had what it takes, but I wasn’t able to just put all the pieces together, and that always stings,” McMorris said.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Ken Ferris and Alison Williams)
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