Japan’s Yuto Totsuka became Japan’s third snowboarder to win a gold medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday night. The 24-year-old Yokohama city native edged out Australia’s Scotty James to top the podium in the men’s halfpipe final.

He scored a massive 95 points on his second run, which featured a cab triple cork 1440, backed up by a series of double cork rotations. The gold was confirmed after James fell while attempting an audacious backside double cork 1620.

“The best halfpipe final I’ve seen,” was how BBC commentator Tim Yarwood described it, adding, “The standard was absolutely through the roof.” There was heartbreak, joy and plenty of excitement in a competition that reached new levels.

For Totsuka, who finished 11th in 2018 and 10th in 2022, it was an evening he’ll never forget. “I wonder if this is the first time I’ve shed a tear of joy,” he said. “I was wondering if it was a dream while I was listening to Japan’s national anthem.”

The Japanese man added, “The happiest thing was I nailed the routine that I’d never done before on this big stage, one that I had no idea how many points it would earn, and whether it’d be good enough to win. I believe my strength is the ability to switch up my plans, and I think I got this medal by maximizing that.”

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Bronze for Ryusei Yamada, Ruka and Ayumu Hirano Miss Out on Medals

Japan had two men on the podium, with Ryusei Yamada taking home the bronze. He led going into the second round after executing a double cork 1440. Ruka Hirano narrowly missed out on a medal in fourth. He was the most consistent performer, scoring 90 on his first two runs and 91 on his last.

Reigning champion Ayumu Hirano finished seventh on 86.50. The 27-year-old suffered multiple fractures and bruises at a World Cup event in Switzerland last month. He was included in the Olympic roster by the Ski Association of Japan as no misalignments were found.

About Yuto Totsuka 

Influenced by his parents, Totsuka started snowboarding when he was just 2 and took up halfpipe riding for the first time in his early elementary school years. At the age of 16, he made his Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, and was seen as a dark-horse for a medal.

Things were looking pretty good until the second round of the final. Attempting a big-air trick, he bounded off the lip and came crashing down the pipe face first. Television commentators described it as one of the worst falls they’d ever seen.

Speaking to Tokyo Weekender about it in 2022, Totsuka said, “I can vaguely recall staff members running over. The next time I opened my eyes, my parents and coaches were in front of me in the first aid room. I think I was out for around 20-30 minutes and my butt was aching.”

In 2021, Totsuka won his first world championship and picked up his first-ever gold medal in the superpipe event at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado. Ranked world number one, he had high expectations going into the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics halfpipe competition, but finished a disappointing 10th. Fortunately, he made up for that in Italy. 

Silver for Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato Takes Home Bronze 

Japan won four medals on Friday, with the other two coming in men’s figure skating.  Yuma Kagiyama walked away with a silver medal. He finished with a score of 280.96, while Shun Sato’s total of 274.90 was enough to earn him a bronze. It was a second medal of the Games for both as they were part of the Japan team that finished runners-up behind the United States. 

“I’ve got mixed emotions,” Kagiyama told reporters after the final. “I’m disappointed with the way I performed but got through it and just have to come to terms with this result. I said to Shun, ‘This is the Olympics — it’s sport — and you never know what can happen.’ We should be happy about this.”

Kagiyama, who also won a silver in the same competition in Beijing, was widely predicted to finish second in Italy behind America’s “Quad God” Ilia Malinin. In the end, though, it was Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov who surprisingly triumphed with a career-best 291.58. Malinin, who faltered on a quadruple jump attempt, finished eighth. Kao Miura, Japan’s other competitor in the event, was 13th.

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