Yuto Totsuka Wins Gold Medal for Snowboarding Halfpipe at Olympics 2026

Japan's Yuto Totsuka won the gold medal in men's snowboarding halfpipe at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday.

Totsuka topped the podium with a score of 95.00, while Australia's Scotty James scored 93.50 for silver and Japan's Ryusei Yamada secured bronze with a score of 92.00.

The finishing order for the 12 finalists in Friday's event was as follows:

1. Yuto Totsuka (Japan): 95.00

2. Scotty James (Australia): 93.50

3. Ryusei Yamada (Japan): 92.00

4. Ruka Hirano (Japan): 91.00

5. Valentino Guseli (Australia): 88.0

6. Chaeun Lee (South Korea): 87.50

7. Ayumu Hirano (Japan): 86.50

8. Jake Pates (USA): 77.50

9. Wang Ziyang (China): 76.00

10. Alessandro Barbieri (USA): 75.00

11. Chase Josey (USA): 70.25

12. Campbell Melville Ives (New Zealand): 43.00

Totsuka gave Japan its second consecutive gold medal in men's snowboarding halfpipe and tied it with Switzerland for the second-most golds in the history of the event behind only the U.S.

James was looking to complete the career podium in Olympic men's halfpipe, as he previously won bronze in 2018 and silver in 2022.

The 31-year-old Aussie had the final run of the entire competition. While he already had silver clinched, he knew he needed a big run in order to overtake Totsuka for gold.

James was unable to complete his final attempt, though, and had to settle for silver. While he fell short of gold, James is only the second man to medal in snowboarding halfpipe at three straight Olympics.

After winning silver in both 2014 and 2018, and gold in 2022, Ayumu Hirano of Japan saw his Olympic medal streak come to an end Friday with a seventh-place finish.

Had he gotten onto the podium, Hirano would have broke a tie with three-time gold medalist Shaun White of the United States for the most career Olympic medals in men's snowboarding halfpipe.

Despite Hirano's shortcomings, Japan medaled in snowboard halfpipe for the fourth consecutive Olympics, matching the United States for the longest streak in the history of the event.

The United States once dominated men's snowboarding halfpipe, winning three of the first four and four of the first six gold medals in the event, while medaling nine times overall.

However, with Jake Pates, Alessandro Barbieri and Chase Josey all finishing off the podium, Americans have failed to medal at back-to-back Olympics.

Snowboarding halfpipe was not a total loss for Team USA, though, as Chloe Kim won silver in the women's event on Thursday.