January 28, 2014

See who’s going to Sochi: 2014 Olympic snowboard team rosters, country by country

Check out 2014 Olympic halfpipe and slopestyle rosters from a few of the most competitive countries across the globe, plus the inside line on who you should be watching out for in Sochi.

words: Kelli Lynn Hargrove

The Japanese Olympic Team

Hirano going huge | P: Mark Kohlman/ESPN

Men’s Slopestyle:
Yuki Kadono

Men’s Halfpipe:
Taku Hiraoka
Ryo Aono
Ayumu Hirano
Ayumu Nedefuji

Women’s Halfpipe:
Rana Okada

Keep your eyes on…
Japan’s young halfpipe prodigy Ayumu Hirano blew the snowboarding world away last season, laying out runs in the pipe with such ferocity and amplitude that he was quickly picked as the rider to beat Shaun White. After injuries kept him out of the 2014 X Games in Aspen, Hirano is stepping into Sochi with nothing to lose. Will he be the one to topple White’s Olympic kingdom? Don’t take your eyes off this kid, he’ll be going huge.