LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — A generation ago, the sight of an Olympic halfpipe podium drenched in red, white and blue was as common as fresh powder on the mountain — a fitting and expected celebration for a sport born and raised in the United States.

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — That ever-growing bench of Japanese snowboarders runs deep. Jumps very high, too. The country that has steadily been asserting mastery over the halfpipe took that show to the Winter Olympics big air contest Saturday night,

Can anyone beat the "Quad God" Ilia Malinin at the Winter Olympics? Japan's Yuma Kagiyama will take his best shot on Tuesday.

Japan's ski jumping mixed team won bronze at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Tuesday. The sport has been contested since the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, and this was Japan's first medal in the event.

Kaori Sakamoto scored 78.88 points in the 2026 Winter Olympics women's short program, boosting Japan to second in figure skating's team event.

Malinin, the two-time World champion and overwhelming favorite to retain for the U.S. the Olympic men’s gold medal Nathan Chen won four years ago in Beijing, finished second to Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.

American Andrew Torgashev placed inside the top 10 with his short program score of 88.94, but he is unlikely to challenge for the medal podium. France's Adam Siao Him Fa, Italy's Daniel Grassl and Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan are the top contenders for the bronze medal.

Japan has filed an official protest with Olympic organisers after the figure skating medal podium at the Milan-Cortina Games left athletes with chipped skate blades following the team competition.Figure skating continues at the Milan-Cortina Games on Tuesday with the men's short programme.