Colorado, United States, March 15, 2021: Japanese snowboarder Yuto Totsuka became a world champion for the first time at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Snowboard and Freeski World Championships at Aspen, Colorado.
The 19-year-old PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympian improved on his silver medal from the 2019 snowboard world championships in Utah, USA to claim gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe with a dominating score of 96.25 points on his third and final run.
While the freeski slopestyle world championships on Saturday morning had seen some gusty winds throughout competition, come time for the snowboarders to drop in on Buttermilk Mountain’s perfect halfpipe the wind had calmed down and the snow held off. This produced some incredible riding from the eight women and 10 men in the halfpipe finals.
Totsuka overcame Australian great Scotty James on his way to the world title with an extraordinary effort, described as “super human” by the FIS expert, thereby denying James a fourth straight world championships gold.
“I am happy now. A dream come true,” said the Japanese teen from Kanagawa who had also won gold at the recent Winter X Games at the same venue.
Source: https://www.fis-ski.com