Beijing 2022

[SOCIAL WIRE] Snowboarder Ayumu Hirano's Historic Gold Medal Win

Spectators who follow the sport were largely confined to watching from home, but that did not prevent them from weighing in on the day. Here’s a look at some of their comments.

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Men's snowboard halfpipe champion Ayumu Hirano holds his gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on February 11.

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“The third time was a charm” is an understatement of what Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano accomplished by winning the men’s halfpipe event at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday, February 11. After a mesmerizing first run, the judges seemed to undercut Hirano’s second run, leading to an outrage by the live play-by-play commentators and online Twitter spectators.

His third and final run was a sequence of spectacular 1440s and a 1220 to become the first ever Japanese to win a gold medal in the event, and the first Olympian to successfully land a triple cork 1440 in competition, completing the redemption of his consecutive silver medal finishes in prior years. 

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Ayumu Hirano

On Twitter, we look at how people reacted in the region and beyond:

"Ayumu Hirano, a big congratulations on your gold medal!!! I was on the slopes but I really want to watch the run, so I asked the staff and they let me see it on TV, resulting in me halving an epic laugh."

"Woke up to see Ayumu Hirano won the gold medal is such an uplifting feeling. Congratulations."

"Snowboarding. Ayumu Hirano, congratulations on your gold medal. Personally, I was very touched to see that Shaun White, who is a little different in age, was stroking his head and congratulating him. The man who put snowboarding on the world stage, and together with the man who carried the sports on his back - I think only those two can understand this special moment."

"Japanese snowboarding representative, Ayumu Hirano, congratulations on your gold medal. I’m so glad I can draw this Olympic Winner Series in this way. I saw the broadcast live, and your third run was a masterpiece."

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Kaishu Hirano: “ ‘I really thought my brother should get the gold medal.’ Let’s get the medal together as brothers at the Milano Cortina Games 4 years from now.”

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