Ayumu HIRANO

Japan

Snowboard

Date of Birth: 29 Nov 1998

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Place of birth: MURAKAMI

Birth Country:

Japan

Residence: MURAKAMI

Residence Country:

Japan

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Snowboard	Men's Snowboard Halfpipe	1

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium	Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Qualification	Finished
	Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium	Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Historical Results

Olympic Games
Rank	Event	Year	Location
2	Men's Halfpipe	2018	PyeongChang, KOR
2	Halfpipe	2014	Sochi, RUS

World Cup Rankings
Season	Halfpipe	Overall Park&Pipe
2021/2022	1	1
2017/2018	2	3
2015/2016	25	54
2013/2014	7	11

World Cup - Best Achievements
Season	Halfpipe
2021/2022	2 x 1st
2017/2018	2 x 1st
2015/2016	1 x 5th
2013/2014	1 x 1st

Ten Best World Cup Performances in Current Season
Rank	Event	Season	Location	Result
1	Halfpipe	2021/2022	Mammoth Mountain, USA	95.80
1	Halfpipe	2021/2022	Laax, SUI	93.25
4	Halfpipe	2021/2022	Copper Mountain, USA	87.25

Nickname:

His name Ayumu means "walk the dream" in Japanese.

Hobbies:

Surfing, skateboarding.

Occupation:

Athlete

Languages spoken:

Japanese

Club name:

Tokio Inkarami

Sporting relatives:

Older brother Eiju Hirano (Snowboard - halfpipe): Competed at two Junior World Championships (2010, 2011) and on the FIS tour from 2009-17.

Younger brother Kaishu Hirano (Snowboard): Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games silver medallist, 2018 Junior World Championships bronze medallist.

Other sports:

Skateboarding: In May 2019 won the Japanese national skateboarding championships, and in August 2021 finished 14th in the park event's qualifying round at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games becoming only the fifth athlete from Japan to feature in both the Olympic Summer and Winter Games.

Debut:

2011 Nor-Am Cup in Copper (Halfpipe - 35th)
2013 World Cup in Cardrona (Halfpipe - 1st)

Injuries:

March 2017: Liver damage and medial collateral ligament injury in his knee after a fall at the 2017 US Open in Vail, CO, USA. He took three months to recover from the injuries.

National team:

2011

Start:

Started snowboarding at age three and skateboarding at age four introduced by his older brother Eiju. Their father was a surf shop owner who built a skatepark for them to practise. (Athlete, 2 Jul 2021)

Reason:

Followed his older brother into the sport. They initially took up skateboarding at a skatepark their father built. (Info 2018)

Training:

Pre-season training on Saas Fee glacier, Switzerland in November 2021.

Memorable:

Winning gold at the 2018 X Games.

Award:

Niigata Prefecture Citizen Honorary Award in Japan (2014)
Murakami City Sports Special Honorary Award in Japan (2014)
Special Achievement Award at the Japanese Olympic Committee Sports Award (2013)

General Interest

SKATEBOARDING
Months after he won back-to-back silver medals in the Olympic Winter Games halfpipe, in November 2018 announced he would try to qualify and compete at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in skateboarding, as he grew up riding his father's own skatepark ramps. He managed to qualify for the Olympic Games on home soil in summer 2021 and finished 14th in qualifying without reaching the park event's final. "It was a completely different world out there. I had a view I never had and the experience was like nothing else. I got a huge jolt from the skateboarders." (olympics.com, 6 Dec 2021)

Only a month after Tokyo 2020 participation, he switched back to focus on snowboarding. "There is not a single day to waste. But I don't feel like I'm up against anyone. I feel like this is about challenging myself. The last two Olympics, it was more about not being able to lose or having to win. This time, it's about seeing how far I can go. Compared to the past, I can go at my own pace." (olympics.com, 6 Dec 2021)

Milestones

OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
Beijing 2022 gold medallist in halfpipe.

Two-time Olympic Winter Games silver medallist. At PyeongChang 2018 he narrowly missed out on gold as Shaun White overtook him on the final run. At Sochi 2014, he became the Games’ youngest ever snowboarding medallist at 15 years, 74 days (also Japan’s first medal in the sport).

WORLD CUP
Five wins and six podiums. First win on his World Cup debut (2013). In 2017 he won the 2018 Olympic test event in Secret Garden.

He hadn't competed since X Games 2018 gold until coming back at a Copper Mountain 2021 event where he finished fourth. Won the following and last two events of 2021/22 season in Mammoth and Laax, to qualify for Beijing 2022 and win his first Crystal Globe.

X GAMES
Two-time X Games gold medallist (2016, 2018), 2022 silver medallist, and 2013 bronze medallist at age 14, becoming the youngest medallist in X Games history.

OTHER
2011: Burton US Junior Open gold medallist at age 12.
2012: Burton High Fives gold medallist.
2013: Burton European Open gold medallist, Burton US Open silver medallist, Oakley Arctic Challenge bronze medallist becoming the youngest rider to win the 2012/2013 Halfpipe World Tour.
2021: national championships silver medallist.

FIRST-EVER TRICKS
Landed the first triple cork (a frontside 1440 triple cork) in halfpipe competition history at the 2021 Dew Tour at Copper Mountain.

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold
:: Gold Medal Event

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