"There are few sports as evocatively named as the snowboard event known as Big Air. It's big. It's in the air. High, high in the air. On Saturday, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Kira Kimura of Japan won the men's Big Air competition at the Livigno Snow Park in Valtellina, Italy. His best run was his third, a switch backside 1980 weddle five and a half full horizontal rotations."
"Sailing skyward, he grabs the board's toe-side edge (that's the weddle). Sailing skyward, he grabs the board's toe-side edge (that's the weddle). He completes his five and a half rotations and lands cleanly. He completes his five and a half rotations and lands cleanly. It was truly impressive. Flawless execution, grabbed the whole way around and landed like he was doing a straight air, essentially, said Rick Bower, program director for the U.S. Snowboard Team."
"Big Air snowboarders have improved drastically since the event debuted at the 2018 Olympics. For good measure, Kimura also completed a backside 1980 melon, using a different sort of board grab. (The results are determined by the best two of three jumps.) Kimura, 21, missed last season with an ankle injury. But he had two second place finishes in three World Cup events this season to position himself for Saturday's gold."
Kira Kimura of Japan won the men's Big Air at the 2026 Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park, landing a third-run switch backside 1980 weddle and also completing a backside 1980 melon. Judges score the best two of three jumps; Kimura's performance followed recovery from a missed season due to an ankle injury and two second-place World Cup finishes this season. Big Air difficulty has increased since 2018, progressing from 1620s to 1800s and now 1980s; Kimura's two 1980s represent a half-rotation increase over the 2022 gold and reflect rapid technical advancement in the sport.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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