Su Yiming earns China's first medal at Milan-Cortina Games as difficulty spikes in big air

LIVIGNO, Italy -- Defending Olympic champion Su Yiming delivered China's first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Saturday, claiming bronze in a fiercely contested men's snowboard big air final defined by soaring difficulty.

With consistency proving decisive in the high-stakes showdown, 21-year-old Su struck a careful balance between ambition and control after rebounding from a fall in qualification to reach the final.

"I'm just really proud of myself to deal with such big pressure and still be able to land my tricks. Finally, I have every single color of medals," Su said. "I'm truly delighted to wear the national colors, standing here to secure our nation's first medal."

He opened with a clean and confident 1980-degree spin, earning 88.25 points, but could not fully capitalize thereafter, touching down with his hand on both his second and third runs for scores of 73.75 and 80.25 respectively. Under the big air format that counts the best two of three runs, Su totaled 168.50 points to secure third place.

"Even before the third run, we anticipated today's final might be the most fiercely contested in history. We also saw numerous competitors make mistakes during the second run," Su said.

The level of competition underscored the rapid progression of the discipline. At Beijing 2022, Su captured gold with a pair of 1800s. This time, eight riders had already landed 1980s in qualification alone.

Japan's Kira Kimura took gold with 179.50 points. After posting the top score of 89.00 in his opening run and stumbling in his second, Kimura sealed victory with a near-flawless third run worth 90.50. His teammate Ryoma Kimata claimed silver on the strength of two solid early runs.

Japan had four riders in the final, but qualification leader Hiroto Ogiwara faltered on all three attempts to finish last among 12 riders, while another Japanese Taiga Hasegawa placed second from bottom following two costly mistakes.

"I've competed with Su for a long time, we always see each other on the World Cup circuit, and he is always the winner," Kimura said. "Today, I'm the winner and I'm very happy about that. I have a lot of respect for him. He's a great athlete."

Su shared an embrace with his mother after the competition. "I don't usually seek her out in competitions, but today I spotted her there," he said. "I went straight over and told her, 'Quick, give me a hug. Give me your energy.' So we embraced as a family, and I hoped to stand on that podium filled with love and energy."

Su will return to action on February 16 for the men's slopestyle qualification.

Earlier in the day, China's freestyle skiing star Gu Ailing advanced to Monday's women's freeski slopestyle final.

Japan's Kira Kimura took gold with 179.50 points. After posting the top score of 89.00 in his opening run and stumbling in his second, Kimura sealed victory with a near-flawless third run worth 90.50. His teammate Ryoma Kimata claimed silver on the strength of two solid early runs.

Japan had four riders in the final, but qualification leader Hiroto Ogiwara faltered on all three attempts to finish last among 12 riders, while another Japanese Taiga Hasegawa placed second from bottom following two costly mistakes.

Su will return to action on Feb 16 for the men's slopestyle qualification.

Earlier in the day, China's freestyle skiing star Gu Ailing advanced to Monday's women's freeski slopestyle final, putting the 22-year-old in position to challenge for what could be the country's first gold medal of the Games.