Milano Cortina 2026: Kira Kimura Nabs First Gold For Japan in Men’s Big Air; Compatriot Ryoma Kimata Takes Silver for 1-2 Finish

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:18 JST, February 8, 2026

MILAN — Kira Kimura won gold in the men’s snowboard big air on Saturday, the first-ever gold for Japan in this event. Compatriot Ryoma Kimata claimed the silver, clinching the first one-two finish for Japan at the Milano Cortina Games.

After finishing the qualifying round in third place, Kimura scored 89.0 points to take the lead in the first run of the final. This surpassed China’s Yiming Su, a gold medalist at the previous Beijing Games. Su placed fourth in the qualifying round.

Kimata was stable, scoring 86.25 points in his first run and 85.5 in the second. In contrast, Kimura couldn’t make a clean leading in his second run and ended up with a score of only 15.00 points. This gave him a total of 104.00 for fourth place after the second run was completed.

However, Kimura remained unfazed. On the third and last run of the final, he burst out with momentum and executed his tricks brilliantly. Though his landing “didn’t quite click,” he compensated adroitly and nailed 5 and half rotations. Raising both hands in triumph after his excellent run, Kimura crouched down once before erupting with joy.

He received 90.50 points, the highest score for any of the 12 snowboarders on the day. This combined with his first run score of 89.00 propelled him into first place.

Kimata made the final run of the competition, saying later, “I had no choice but to attempt a jump I’d never done before. But it didn’t work.” He was unable to improve his score and the gold medal race was decided.

Kimura has gained strength after struggling with an injury to his right ankle last season.

“I spent a lot of time on snowboarding this year. My family and those around me, including a coach, gave me generous support, so I’m glad to repay them with my results,” Kimura said proudly.

Kimata said, “I’m a bit frustrated with the fact that [another] Japanese person finished ahead of me, but I think I managed to show my best performance.

“Kira was great, and I want to congratulate him,” Kimata said.