'Makes no sense': Aussie teen caught in Winter Olympics 'disgrace'

Ayumu Hirano was the talk of the Winter Olympics on Friday, not only because of his gold medal triumph but also due to the controversially low score he was awarded in one of his halfpipe runs.

Many described the Japanese star's run as one of the best of all time, yet the judges handed out a criminally-low score of 91.75.

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Hirano still managed to win the gold medal from Australia's Scotty James, but the credibility of the judges copped an absolute hammering.

And Aussie young gun Valentino Guseli also appeared to be dudded as he finished a remarkable sixth in his Winter Olympics debut at age 16.

Guseli posted 75.75 and held second spot after his first run, then earned two scores of 79.75.

He was the only competitor in the final to post scores over 70 in all three runs, however many were gobsmacked that he didn't score higher.

"That makes no sense," one commentator said on Channel 7.

Guseli could be seen saying "righto then" as the score for his final run was awarded - the Aussie clearly expecting much higher.

Nevertheless the teenager was humble and classy afterwards.

The NSW country kid said he had achieved his Olympic goal of making the final, and was thrilled to finish sixth.

"It was one of the biggest showings of competitive snowboard ever and it was awesome to be a part of it," Guseli said.

"I'm super happy to have landed my runs."

Controversy erupts over halfpipe judging 'disgrace'

Hirano, who had won silver at the past two Games, became the first snowboarder to complete a run in competition that included the sport's most difficult trick.

The Japanese star, who also competed in the park skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics, snatched the gold medal with a flawless final run at Genting Snow Park that earned 96.00 to top James's best of 92:50.

However it was the score for his second run that had the world up in arms.

"Ahhhhhh what?" one commentator on NBC said. "What? Is there a mistake. There is no way."

Another commentator asked: "Can you explain that to me?"

"As far as I am concerned, the judges have grenaded all their credibility."

"It's unbelievable that this is even happening. This is a travesty. I am irate right now."

James was unable to execute his third run but felt that if he had, the tricks he planned may have been enough to best Hirano, even without a frontside triple cork.

The 27-year-old, who also won bronze in PyeongChang, said he discussed it with coach James Jackson and given a number of riders, including himself on the first, had fallen midway on the right side of the pipe, decided it was too high risk.

"We've trained the triple cork ... It was in my plan to do it but you can't predict what's going to happen on the day and in that moment it's not a trick to mess around with; the margin for error is none," James said.

"We tried to add another 1260 in the middle to boost my score a little bit more and I came unstuck.

"I was happy with my run, and adding in what we did and executing as well as I would have liked to, I think it would have come very close.

"Whether I would have stood on top or just behind like I did, who knows."

with AAP

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