20 year old Japanese Olympic snowboarder Ayumu Hirano just beat Shaun White to the punch and has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the 2020 Tokyo skateboarding event.
The two-time Olympic halfpipe silver medalist recently held a news conference announcing his plans to enter skateboard events at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and new contract with clothing chain Uniqlo.
Asahi.com reports Ayumu started skateboarding at around the same age as snowboarding, 4 years old, and has always brought his skateboard with him while competing around the world on the snow. When asked about the challenge of becoming the first snowboard/skateboard Olympian Ayumu had this to say:
“The first person to defy the odds is the toughest of all, and that requires courage. The name of the game is how far I can go when facing a big wall.”
….Shaun White where you at?
Here’s a few clip of him skating:
https://www.instagram.com/p/u-tmTARTJy/
Here’s his superpipe gold medal run at this year’s X Games:
images from ayumu hirano IG