Kira Kimura Wins Gold Medal for Snowboarding Big Air at Olympics 2026

Japan's Kira Kimura earned gold in men's snowboard big air, beating out compatriot Ryoma Kimata and reigning gold medalist Su Yiming.

Kimura's final score of 179.50 put him comfortably ahead of Kimata (171.50), who the 2025 world champion in big air.

Men's Snowboard Big Air Medal Winners

• Gold: Kira Kimura, Japan
• Silver: Ryoma Kimata, Japan
• Bronze: Su Yiming, China

Heading into the third and final run, Kimata and Su sat first and second on the leaderboard. New Zealand's Dane Menzies was the only other competitor to complete two successful jumps.

That left the battle wide open.

Kimura in particular had everything to gain. He posted the highest score of the first run (89.00) before failing to land his jump in the second. Knowing he needed something big, the 21-year-old went for a switch backside 1980. He stuck the landing and the judges scored it 90.50, vaulting him all the way up to first.

Ollie Martin was the only Team USA representative in the final. After a fall in his first run, he rebounded nicely in his second attempt and then concluded by nailing a frontside 1800.

With an overall score of 163.00, Martin climbed into second place but had to hope his total output would hold up with 10 more snowboarders left to go.

It went all the way to the end. Martin was still in third place as Su, the next-to-last competitor to go, was the only one who could knock the American off the podium.

Adding to the drama, Su remained on his board through his third jump but had to use both hands to steady himself after hitting the powder. While the judges subtracted some points, a score of 80.25 was enough to put him into third.

As a result, Martin had to settle for fourth.

Men's big air was just the first of 11 different competitions in the snowboard discipline. The men's and women's parallel giant slalom finals are on deck Sunday.