Japan’s Hiroto Ogiwara has made an X Games debut for the ages, winning the men’s snowboarding big air gold medal while landing the first known 2340.
The 19-year-old from Nagano landed the backside six-and-a-half-revolution trick for a score of 97.33 points on Friday to comfortably win the competition ahead of defending champion Hasegawa Taiga, who took silver with a score of 94.66 on his first run. New Zealand teenager Rocco Jamieson finished third on his X Games debut with 91.33 points at Aspen’s Buttermilk Ski Resort.
According to organizers, Ogiwara is the first snowboarder or skier to land the 2430 mute grab in competition.
“I am the first in the world to do that. I’ve never been as happy as this,” Ogiwara said afterward. “It was really the greatest moment. It felt as if I used every ounce of energy I had.”
In 2021, Ogiwara won the All Japan Junior Ski Championship and World Rookie Finals, dominating the global junior scene at just 16. He repeated those feats in 2022, cementing his reputation as a prodigy.
His career hit new heights at The Nines in Switzerland, where he landed the world’s first BS Quint Coke 2160. The groundbreaking trick stunned the snowboarding world and established Ogiwara as a trailblazer.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who captured her country’s first ever Winter Olympic gold in 2022, won the women’s slopestyle with 94.66 points. Japan’s Kokomo Murase (90.33) was second and Britain’s Mia Brookes (88.33) third.
