The Hirano brothers dominated the men's snowboarding competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Ayumu Hirano took home Japan's first-ever gold medal in men's halfpipe Thursday night, while his younger, Kaishu, bent the rules of gravity with a historic, record-breaking backside air jump on a superpipe trick.
Kaishu, 19, went a full two dozen feet out of the pipe in his first-ever Olympic performance.
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Kaishu, who fell a few times during his run, didn't go on to medal at the event but his talent was hard to deny after the competition had concluded.
While Kaishu didn't bring home a medal for Japan, he and his brother undoubtedly have the snowboarding world captivated. It comes at a good time for the sport with Team USA's Shaun White set to retire after the 2022 Olympics.
Shaun White and the future of snowboarding
Team USA's Shaun White rode into retirement Thursday but that doesn't necessarily mean bad things for snowboarding at the Olympics going forward.
Kaisha Hirano made his Olympic debut in 2022 but has collected several medals in both the halfpipe and superpipe already in his young career.
He won the bronze medal in men's superpipe at the 2022 Winter X Games earlier this year.
