Beijing Olympic men's snowboard halfpipe gold medalist Ayumu Hirano said Friday he is eager to defend his title at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy.After winning silver in 2014 and 2018, the 23-year-old Japanese seized his first gold medal by landing the Olympics' first triple cork -- a trick with three off-axis flips -- at Genting Snow Park near the Chinese capital.He now has his sights set on surpassing that performance four years from now at the games hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo."I'm hoping to challenge myself in new tricks and also go for the next winter Olympics so long as I ca…READ FULL ARTICLE