LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Japan's mastery in snowboarding might very well go beyond the halfpipe. Hiroto Ogiwara finished at the top of the scoreboard in qualifying for big air Thursday night —- making the 20-year-old a legit gold-medal contender at the 2026 Winter Olympics for the country that boasts the reigning halfpipe champion,

Snowboarding's Ollie Martin arrives in Italy for the 2026 Olympics as a medal hopeful at 17, the same age teammate Red Gerard was when he won gold.

Big Air has been part of the competition since Pyeongchang in 2018, giving the most daring athletes the opportunity to lay it out on the line, delivering three tricks, with their two best scores being combined for a final score. The top 12 scores will advance to the final.

Big air snowboarding and big air freestyle skiing are fairly new to the Olympics. Here's what to know ahead of their events. (AP photo)

The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics continued on Thursday with ice hockey, curling, snowboarding and more. See a recap of all the action.