For the sport of men’s halfpipe, the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina represent the start of a new era. It’ll be the first Olympics since 2002 not to feature Shaun White, as the 2006, 2010, and 2018 gold medalist announced his retirement after finishing just off the podium at the 2022 Games. White will be in attendance in Livigno, but only as a fan.
The competition will start at 1:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local). Defending gold medalist Ayumu Hirano will be in the field, as will silver medalist Scotty James of Australia. The bronze medalist, Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer, did not participate in qualifying after sustaining a concussion in practice.
James is a -350 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to one-up his performance from the 2022 Games. If he wins, it’d be Australia’s second gold of these games. The next four athletes with the shortest odds are all Japanese: Yuto Totsuka (+300), Ryusei Yamada (+900), Ruka Hirano (+1200), and Ayumu Hirano (+1200).
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe prediction, pick
If he were fully healthy, Ayumu Hirano would surely have shorter odds of defending his gold medal, but he entered the Olympics dealing with a fractured hip and knee bruising. Hirano persevered to qualify in seventh anyway, but margins are fine in halfpipe snowboarding and any limitations could make the difference between him winning a fourth consecutive medal and returning to Japan empty-handed. Regardless, it would be foolhardy to count out one of just seven men ever to land a triple-cork in the halfpipe. It’s not like he’s washed-up: he ranks fourth in the FIS standings and won at Secret Garden in China earlier this season in a Japanese sweep of the podium.
While Japan is the most dominant halfpipe nation overall — Japanese women claimed both a bronze in Wednesday’s women’s snowboard halfpipe — it’s James’ sport. James won the World Championships last March in Switzerland and finished first in both qualifying and the finals at Laax, where Hirano suffered his injury. He has eight X Games gold medals, tying White’s mark, and he was the first snowboarder ever to land a double-cork 1620. He opened his qualifying run with a double-cork 1080 and never looked back, ultimately finishing with a 94.0. It’s likely that he’s capable of bettering that performance in the final if he needs to, given that there are reportedly tricks in his arsenal that have never previously been landed in competition.
However, if James slips up at all, there will be plenty of riders capable of filling the void. Totsuka was one of the first to land a triple-cork in competition and has four medals in six X-Games appearances, and he only narrowly lost to Hirano at the Snow League. He won at Buttermilk in January, edging out countryman Shuichiro Shigeno and American Alessandro Barbieri, though it’s worth noting that James didn’t compete in that competition. Ruka Hirano has beaten James, Ayumu Hirano, and Totsuka, and he could bring out his first triple-cork in competition at these Games. Yamada won at Copper earlier this season, topping an impressive field that included both Totsuka and Ruka Hirano. Barbieri, the United States’ best hope, also has the 1260 and the triple-cork 1440 in his arsenal.
There’s no point in betting on James: his odds are short enough and his difficulty high enough that if he completes one clean run, he’ll be hard to match. Though Ayumu Hirano is still arguably the most talented snowboarder on the planet, his injury was severe enough that it’s hard to imagine him winning. But if any athlete besides James wins, Ruka Hirano is my favorite bet — he’s the only snowboarder besides James to have landed a switch backside 1440.
