The 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix kicked off December 18, 2024, with the snowboard halfpipe qualifiers running from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Copper Mountain, and snowboarding fans are going to get to watch the contest’s finals on TV later this week.
CNBC and Peacock will air the snowboard halfpipe contest from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 21, 2024. It will show skiing halfpipe Sunday from 4:30 p.m. to 6: p.m. CNBC will also show the Stifel Snow Show following the halfpipe finals.
Chloe Kim is competing for the first time this season. The two-time Olympic gold medalist returned from a year-long break last season to become the first woman to land a 1260 in a competition.
Felllow American Maddie Mastro will also get some home-course advantage, as she’s coming off of her first career World Cup win in China just weeks ago. It was her first win after 15 podium finishes. She finished in third place at Copper Mountain in 2023.
Photo: Brie Coops/U.S. Snowboard Team
Maddy Schaffrick will look to land on another podium, after returning to competition for the first time in 10 years at China’s Secret Garden. She finished in third place just two weeks ago.
“So stoked and grateful for this one. Gonna keep pushing because that was fun as hell,” she wrote on Instagram.”Third place finish at first World Cup back in almost 10 years. Took a lot to get here. Takes a lot to be here. Grateful for it all.”
Japan’s Mitsuki Ono and China’s Xuetong Cai will both be competing in the finals round as well.
American Chloe Kim is leading the field after qualifiers, with a score of 90. “Qualies were a success! (I don’t know) what it is about qualifiers, but they stress me the f*ck out. Happy to be back in the bib. Finals on Friyay!” Kim wrote on Instagram.
Japan’s Sara Shimizu sits in second place with an 85.33, and coach-turned-athlete Maddy Schaffrick is in third with an 83.
Photo: Good Enouf Photography
On the men’s side of things, Americans Jason Wolle, Joey Okesson, and Chase Josey have all qualified for the finals. Ruka and Ayumu Hirano will represent Japan alongside Ryusei Yamada and Yuto Totsuka, and Scotty James will represent his home country Australia.
Ayumu Hirano, the 2022 Olympic gold medal winner in the halfpipe, just narrowly missed the podium a couple of weeks ago at China’s Secret Garden, as he finished in fourth place. He won the 2023 Grand Prix at Copper Mountain.
Korea’s Lee Chaeun took away the top spot in qualifiers, finishing with a total score of 90. Ayumu Hirano followed closesly behind with an 87 at the number 2 spot, and Ruka Hirano rounded out the podium with an 85.66.
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