Sawt Falasteen - Snowboarder Su Yiming wins China's first gold of Milan-Cortina Olympics

Su scored 82.41 points on his first run of three in bright sunshine at Livigno Snow Park to lay down a marker and was never caught, upgrading the silver he won at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Japan's Taiga Hasegawa took silver with 82.13 while US snowboarder Jake Canter (79.36) won bronze, with the best run of three counting.

Canada's Mark McMorris, who crashed during big air training earlier in the Games, was denied a fourth straight medal in the event.

Su, who turned 22 on Wednesday, only qualified for the slopestyle final in eighth position but established an early grip on the competition in the Italian Alps, edging past Hasegawa with his first effort.

He failed to improve on his score but ultimately it did not matter.

Slopestyle riders are scored on their tricks and jumps over multiple ramps, rails and other obstacles.

China had failed to win a single gold until Su's triumph -- a huge disappointment after winning nine at the 2022 Beijing Games.

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST