Ayumu Hirano dethroning American Shaun White as the Olympic snowboard halfpipe champion marks the arrival of a new generation, but Japan's latest gold medalist said it was the megastar himself who pushed him to break new ground.Hirano, who before Friday had two halfpipe Olympic silvers, said he pursued runs that made him stand out from the crowd at the Beijing Games. He did that by pulling off triple cork 1440s in all three trips down the pipe to become the first rider to land one in Olympic competition."I always wanted to persist in being unique," the 23-year-old said. "I thought it might …READ FULL ARTICLE
