Ayumu Hirano, the snowboard halfpipe silver medalist at the last two Olympics and Shaun White’s main competitor, qualified in skateboarding for the Tokyo Olympics, according to Japanese media.
Hirano, 22, achieved that final international Olympic qualifier in the park – one of two disciplines for skateboarding’s Olympic debut this summer – with the highest score among Japanese men. He was the best Japanese driver in qualifying, 26th, and no one reportedly made it to the finals.
Hirano is 24th overall in the Olympic Skateboarding qualification according to the current World Skate ranking. 20 riders per discipline will take part in the Olympic Games. Japan will receive at least one place in the Olympic field as the host.
World Skate has not confirmed the athletes who have secured Olympic quota places. According to the current ranking, some Americans, led by world champion Heimana Reynolds, have mathematically occupied Olympic berths ahead of this weekend’s park finale, the Dew Tour in Des Moines.
More than 100 athletes took part in both the summer and the Participated in winter games. American Lauryn Williams is the only one to have won medals in both athletics and bobsleigh since 2000.
In PyeongChang, the then 5-foot-3 Hirano was the first snowboarder to compete in the Olympics Double cork landed in a row in the 1440s and took the lead in the second of three runs.
But in the last run White tried the same combination – for the first time in his competitive career – and landed it to win – 97.75 to 95, 25.
Hirano took part in the Skateboarding World Championships in 2019 and was 17th. White also competed in these worlds and finished 13th before giving up his offer as Olympic champion and returning to snowboarding.
In 2014, Hirano was the second youngest man to win an Olympic winter medal, according to Olympedia.org.
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