China, Japan take top spots in superpipe Grand Prix Olympic warm-up

COPPER MOUNTAIN, the United States, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two-time world champion Cai Xuetong of China nailed her final run of the day to stand atop the podium at the 2021 Grand Prix, held at Copper Mountain, 77 miles west of Denver.

On the men's side, Youth Olympic Games champion Ruka Hirano of Japan won the men's competition with U.S. snowboard legend Shaun White finishing eighth at one of two December tune-ups and qualifying events leading to the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

"A lot more momentum coming down than the other riders...and she stomped her final jump with authority!" yelled the NBC announcer, describing Cai's final run, to a crowd of more than 1,000 who lined the superpipe at Saturday's finals.

Also known as "Tong Tong," Cai, 28, a native of Harbin, China, "displayed great momentum on a clean final run with two 900s to claim victory in the U.S. Grand Prix women's snowboard halfpipe," NBC-News reported.

Cai's virtually flawless final run earned her a score of 80.5 that jumped her into first place put her ahead of second-place finished Sena Tomita from Japan and bronze medalist Queralt Castellet from Spain.

For the men, Switzerland's Jan Scherrer ruined a Japanese sweep of podium honors with a stellar final run to win silver ahead of bronze medalist Yuto Totsuka.

Hirano, 19, had an opening run of 89.25 that carried him to victory, while three-time Olympic gold medalist White's first run of 75.50 put him into first place.

"Look at that amplitude!" ESPN announcer Joe Corby screamed into the mic as White soared 20 feet above the 22-foot-tall wall of ice, as the crowd roared in appreciation, en route to an impressive first run.

White, 35, was unable to improve on the score and finished behind seven other riders, including local favorite Taylor Gold and Idaho's Chase Josey, as Japan's riders took four of the top five spots.

"White landed heel heavy on the first wall, causing him to fall on his final run," NBC reported as the four-time Olympian, known for his final run, come-from-behind efforts, was unable to muster another comeback.

In men's ski halfpipe, Colorado native and 2018 Olympic free ski halfpipe silver medalist Alex Ferreira threw down a big, 93.50-point first run at the U.S. Grand Prix opener, hitting a 1440 midway to claim the victory at Copper Mountain.

The 2022 Copper Mountain Olympic qualifying events will conclude Dec 18 to 19 with the greatly anticipated Dew Tour.