The snowboard big air finals at the World Championships in St. Moritz are firmly in Japanese hands. Ryoma Kimata and Kokomo Murase secure the titles.
28.03.2025, 21:31
28.03.2025, 22:31
SDA
The two rankings at the top read like the Tokyo telephone directory in the old days. In the men's competition, the Asians achieved a double victory. Kimata, who recorded the highest score on this final day with 95 points in the third and final round, won ahead of Taiga Hasegawa, who had competed as the defending champion.
Kimata, for his part, had won silver in slopestyle at the World Championships two years ago in Bakuriani, Georgia. The podium of the big air competition in St. Moritz was completed by 16-year-old American Oliver Martin, who had already finished third in the slopestyle.
The Japanese women ensured total triumph. Kokomo Murase and her teammates Reira Iwabuchi and Mari Fukada won the entire set of medals for the Land of the Rising Sun under the floodlights. Momo Suzuki, who narrowly missed out on the podium, even ensured a quadruple success.
Kokomo Murase had already secured silver in the slopestyle a week earlier. The 20-year-old athlete's first precious metal at a major international event came three years ago with bronze in the Big Air at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
There were no Swiss athletes in the decision on the St. Moritz Olympic ski jump. Without exception, they all failed to qualify.
