TOKYO - After winning his first Winter Olympic gold medal four years ago, a seventh place finish this February in northern Italy ended snowboarding icon Ayumu Hirano's run of podium finishes at the games following his silvers in 2014 and 2018.
But an incredible comeback from a hip fracture, suffered less than a month before the halfpipe event in Livigno, epitomized the 27-year-old who wants to "go as far as possible" as he eyes his fifth straight Winter Games in 2030 in the French Alps.
"It was some injury. One that I don't even want to recall," the Niigata Prefecture native said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. "At the time, I was telling myself, 'I'm not injured.'"
"I think there's a value in the fact I faced up to it without giving in and running away. Getting to overcome that challenge might have been more important than the result I got."
Hirano was pondering his future in the spring, with a path away from the next Olympics a possibility, before he made up his mind.
"I've reached a stage (of my career) where it's becoming easier to realize that the time I've been having won't go on forever," he said.
"But the sense of growing after overcoming a battle with myself is a really precious experience that I can only taste by continuing to be an active athlete. As long as there's a chance to win, I want to take on challenges expressing my character and leaving no regrets."
Hirano announced his marriage in 2024, when he also had his first child, and the change in his life stage is having a positive impact on his perspective.
"My view of life has changed quite a bit. There's a sense that it's not just about me and it's helped me grow," he said. "I'm learning from many things."
"There are always changes in between the Olympics. I'm really looking forward to how I change over the next four years."
His intrepid character saw him successfully qualify for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 as a skateboarder. After showing his mettle once again on the Olympic slope this year, nailing a new trick despite the injury, Hirano knows he will not be fazed and hopes to be an inspiration again when he starts his new chapter.
"I have to concentrate on the sport first, but there comes an end for everyone. I wonder what's next for a snowboarder," Hirano said. "I'm still going by trial and error, but part of me wants to try a new field away from snowboarding."
"I want to be someone who can show what lies beyond, stay true to my mentality, keep being myself and give dreams to people."
