Snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's halfpipe
A total of 25 snowboarders qualified to compete at the games. For an athlete to compete they must have a minimum of 50.00 FIS points on the FIS Points List on January 17, 2022 and a top 30 finish in a World Cup event or at the FIS Snowboard World Championships 2021. A country could enter a maximum of four athletes into the event. Q — Qualified for the Final The top 12 athletes in the qualifiers move on to the medal round. During Ayumu Hirano's second finals run, he completed a "spectacular frontside triple cork to become the first person ever to land the trick at an Olympics." NBC commentator Todd Richards, a former snowboarder, immediately announced that "no one will touch that run tonight... that is going to be a 98." He would go on to add, "He destroyed this halfpipe. That run was something that we may never see again from anyone else. Unbelievable. Level raised. By such a large margin. They are going to give him a score that is going to be just out of this world." However, judges scored the run a 91.75, leaving him in second behind Scotty James. Immediately on-air, NBC's Richards blasted the judges, proclaiming “Ahhh what? What? Is there a mistake? There’s no way, there is no way. A 91.75? ...as far as I’m concerned, the judges just grenaded all their credibility." He went on to add, "It's unbelievable that this is even happening. It's a travesty to be completely honest with you. I am irate right now. Someone call the authorities, there’s been a robbery." People online began to dub this controversy "triple-gate". X games silver medalist Nikko Landeros tweeted that Hirano "just got robbed... this should never happen in the Olympics... what a disgrace." Ultimately, Hirano secured the gold medal on his third run by scoring a 96.00 by performing a triple cork and a 1440.
Qualification
At the 2021–22 FIS Snowboard World Cup, only three halfpipe events were held before the Olympics.