At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Japanese snowboarder Hirano Ayumu claimed the gold medal in the men's halfpipe on Friday.

The two-time silver medalist finally took the top spot.

Hirano landed what's called "a triple cork 1440" on all three of his runs. The maneuver consists of three head-over-heels flips while spinning sideways four times. Hirano became the first athlete to achieve it in competition last December. He scored 96.00 points on his third run, beating Australia's Scotty James.

Hirano also competed in skateboarding at last summer's Tokyo Olympics. He failed to advance to the final, but he says trying the sport gave him a new sense of balance. He then switched to snowboarding and has been preparing for the Winter Games for six months.

American superstar Shaun White finished fourth.
He won three gold medals in the event in the 2006, 2010, and 2018 Olympics.

The 35-year-old says he will retire after these Games.