Defending champion Su rebounds to survive big air qualification at Milan-Cortina 2026

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Su Yiming of China recovered from an early setback to progress to the snowboard men's big air final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics here on Thursday.

Su, 21, only notched 22.00 points on his opening jump, but came back strongly in the later runs. His second and third attempts, scoring 87.75 and 85.00 points respectively, proved enough to secure a place in the final.

Other two Chinese snowboarders Ge Chunyu and Yang Wenlong both failed to break into the top 12 needed to reach the final.

Japan had a strong showing in qualification, with all four of its riders advancing. Hiroto Ogiwara led the Japanese contingent, topping the standings after scoring 90.50 and 88.00 points on his first two jumps.

Italy's Ian Matteoli impressed on home snow, opening with a competition-high 93.75 points and finishing second overall with a total of 174.50 points.

In his Olympic debut, 19-year-old Ge encountered difficulties across all three runs. He finished 29th with a total score of 75.75 points. Yang also missed out on a place in the final after posting a total score of 155.75 points to sit 19th.

A total of 30 athletes competed in the qualification, with each athlete taking three runs. The best two scores were combined to determine the standings, and the top 12 advanced to the final.

The final will be held on Saturday. ■