| | Event type
Halfpipe, Men
| Date | 12 February 1998 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Kanbayashi Sports Park, Yamanouchi |
| Participants | 36 from 12 countries |
| Details | Gradient: 18° Length: 120 m Wall Height: 3.5 m Wall-to-Wall Width: 15 m |
The top halfpiper in the world was Norway’s Terje Håkonsen, International Snowboarding Federation Champion in 1993, 1995, and 1997 and five-time European Champion, but he refused to compete in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, protesting the IOC decision to recognize the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) as the governing body for Olympic snowboarding, and not the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF). David Wallechinsky, in The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics, also noted that Håkonsen’s personal boycott went deeper, when he said, “Snowboarding is about fresh tracks and carving powder and being yourself, and not being judged by others. It’s not about nationalism and politics and big money. Snowboarding is everything the Olympics isn’t.” In his absence, the event was wide open. Thirty-six boarders advanced 16 to the final round. In the first round of the final, Switzerland’s Gian Simmen took the lead over Canada’s Brett Carpentier. Simmen’s second round was solid, though only the fourth best of the round, but he was able to hold on for the gold medal, which was a major surprise, as he was only 38th in the world rankings. Daniel Franck (NOR) was only in seventh place after round one, but had the highest score of the competition on his second run to move up to the silver medal. Simmen and Franck were ISF riders, while Ross Powers (USA), the bronze medalist, was an FIS boarder.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Qualifying Round 1 | Qualifying Round 2 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Gian Simmen |  SUI | 34.0 (21) | 39.8 (3) | 85.2 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Daniel Franck |  NOR | 39.6 (4) | – | 82.4 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Ross Powers |  USA | 38.0 (10) | 39.4 (7) | 82.1 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Fabien Rohrer | SUI | 38.5 (6) | – | 78.7 (4) | |||
| 5 | – | Guillaume Chastagnol |  FRA | 40.2 (2) | – | 78.3 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Jacob Söderqvist |  SWE | 30.9 (30) | 39.2 (8) | 77.8 (6) | |||
| 7 | – | Sebu Kuhlberg |  FIN | 33.4 (23) | 39.7 (4) | 76.6 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Mike Michalchuk |  CAN | 32.3 (27) | 41.4 (2) | 76.0 (8) | |||
| 9 | – | Brett Carpentier | CAN | 36.3 (13) | 41.8 (1) | 75.6 (9) | |||
| 10 | – | Jonathan Collomb-Patton | FRA | 38.2 (8) | – | 75.5 (10) | |||
| 11 | – | Jussi Oksanen | FIN | 39.7 (3) | – | 73.6 (11) | |||
| 12 | – | Jean Baptiste Charlet | FRA | 31.3 (29) | 39.6 (5) | 73.4 (12) | |||
| 13 | – | Markus Hurme | FIN | 41.1 (1) | – | 73.0 (13) | |||
| 14 | – | Aleksi Litovaara | FIN | 39.0 (5) | – | 71.9 (14) | |||
| 15 | – | Klas Vangen | NOR | 38.3 (7) | – | 70.9 (15) | |||
| 16 | – | Todd Richards | USA | 32.4 (26) | 39.5 (6) | 69.6 (16) | |||
| 17 | – | Xaver Hoffmann |  GER | 28.3 (32) | 38.2 (9) | – | |||
| 18 | – | Pontus Ståhlkloo | SWE | 33.5 (22) | 37.9 (10) | – | |||
| 19 | – | Iker Fernández |  ESP | 36.9 (12) | 37.9 (11) | – | |||
| 20 | – | Kim Christiansen | NOR | 38.1 (9) | 37.7 (12) | – | |||
| 21 | – | Sergio Bartrina | ESP | 27.5 (33) | 37.4 (13) | – | |||
| 22 | – | Ingemar Backman | SWE | 35.5 (17) | 37.0 (14) | – | |||
| 23 | – | Fredrik Sterner | SWE | 32.4 (25) | 36.5 (15) | – | |||
| 24 | – | Max Plötzeneder |  AUT | 35.1 (19) | 35.9 (16) | – | |||
| 25 | – | Tony Vannucci Roos | FRA | 36.2 (14) | 35.8 (=17) | – | |||
| 26 | – | Derek Heidt | CAN | 35.6 (16) | 35.8 (=17) | – | |||
| 27 | – | Bertrand Denervaud | SUI | 37.8 (11) | 35.3 (19) | – | |||
| 28 | – | Takashi Nishida |  JPN | 32.2 (28) | 33.4 (20) | – | |||
| 29 | – | Trevor Andrew | CAN | 24.1 (36) | 32.4 (21) | – | |||
| 30 | – | Makoto Takagaki | JPN | 34.6 (20) | 32.2 (22) | – | |||
| 31 | – | Ron Chiodi | USA | 29.0 (31) | 32.1 (=23) | – | |||
| 32 | – | Patrik Hasler | SUI | 32.6 (24) | 32.1 (=23) | – | |||
| 33 | – | Roger Hjelmstadstuen | NOR | 35.2 (18) | 31.3 (25) | – | |||
| 34 | – | Shinichi Watanabe | JPN | 35.7 (15) | 29.1 (26) | – | |||
| 35 | – | Łukasz Starowicz |  POL | 27.2 (34) | 26.5 (27) | – | |||
| 36 | – | Takamasa Imai | JPN | 24.4 (35) | 24.4 (28) | – |
Qualifying Round 1
| Date | 12 February 1998 — 10:10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Top eight finishers advanced to final. | |
| Judge #1 (Standard Airs) | David Desa | CAN |
| Judge #2 (Rotations) | Jason Dow | USA |
| Judge #3 (Amplitude) | Steve Brown |  AUS |
| Judge #4 (Landings) | Toru Otsuki | JPN |
| Judge #5 (Technical Merit) | Ola Sundekvist | SWE |
| Pos | Ord | Competitor | NOC | Points | Judge #1 Score (Standard Airs) | Judge #2 Score (Rotations) | Judge #3 Score (Amplitude) | Judge #4 Score (Landings) | Judge #5 Score (Technical Merit) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Markus Hurme | FIN | 41.1 | 8.4 | 7.1 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 8.5 | ||
| 2 | 12 | Guillaume Chastagnol | FRA | 40.2 | 7.5 | 9.0 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 8.3 | ||
| 3 | 28 | Jussi Oksanen | FIN | 39.7 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 7.6 | ||
| 4 | 23 | Daniel Franck | NOR | 39.6 | 8.0 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 8.1 | ||
| 5 | 25 | Aleksi Litovaara | FIN | 39.0 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 7.5 | 7.9 | ||
| 6 | 31 | Fabien Rohrer | SUI | 38.5 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.8 | ||
| 7 | 21 | Klas Vangen | NOR | 38.3 | 8.6 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.6 | ||
| 8 | 9 | Jonathan Collomb-Patton | FRA | 38.2 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.2 | ||
| 9 | 30 | Kim Christiansen | NOR | 38.1 | 8.9 | 6.1 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 8.0 | ||
| 10 | 33 | Ross Powers | USA | 38.0 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 7.8 | ||
| 11 | 27 | Bertrand Denervaud | SUI | 37.8 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 6.4 | 7.1 | ||
| 12 | 29 | Iker Fernández | ESP | 36.9 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.0 | ||
| 13 | 3 | Brett Carpentier | CAN | 36.3 | 5.3 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 8.2 | ||
| 14 | 10 | Tony Vannucci Roos | FRA | 36.2 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 6.8 | 6.9 | ||
| 15 | 2 | Shinichi Watanabe | JPN | 35.7 | 4.9 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 7.8 | ||
| 16 | 17 | Derek Heidt | CAN | 35.6 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.4 | ||
| 17 | 4 | Ingemar Backman | SWE | 35.5 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 8.9 | 6.2 | 7.3 | ||
| 18 | 16 | Roger Hjelmstadstuen | NOR | 35.2 | 6.5 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 6.5 | ||
| 19 | 20 | Max Plötzeneder | AUT | 35.1 | 6.2 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 5.9 | 7.4 | ||
| 20 | 1 | Makoto Takagaki | JPN | 34.6 | 7.9 | 6.8 | 5.5 | 7.6 | 6.8 | ||
| 21 | 5 | Gian Simmen | SUI | 34.0 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 5.8 | 6.4 | ||
| 22 | 18 | Pontus Ståhlkloo | SWE | 33.5 | 8.8 | 4.2 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 6.0 | ||
| 23 | 24 | Sebu Kuhlberg | FIN | 33.4 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 7.0 | ||
| 24 | 26 | Patrik Hasler | SUI | 32.6 | 6.7 | 7.5 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 6.2 | ||
| 25 | 14 | Fredrik Sterner | SWE | 32.4 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 5.1 | 6.7 | ||
| 26 | 36 | Todd Richards | USA | 32.4 | 4.2 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 6.4 | 6.4 | ||
| 27 | 13 | Mike Michalchuk | CAN | 32.3 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 6.6 | ||
| 28 | 22 | Takashi Nishida | JPN | 32.2 | 7.1 | 5.3 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 6.0 | ||
| 29 | 11 | Jean Baptiste Charlet | FRA | 31.3 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 5.7 | 6.3 | ||
| 30 | 34 | Jacob Söderqvist | SWE | 30.9 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 6.2 | ||
| 31 | 19 | Ron Chiodi | USA | 29.0 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 5.2 | 5.9 | ||
| 32 | 32 | Xaver Hoffmann | GER | 28.3 | 8.2 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 3.4 | 6.1 | ||
| 33 | 6 | Sergio Bartrina | ESP | 27.5 | 2.3 | 8.5 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 6.1 | ||
| 34 | 7 | Łukasz Starowicz | POL | 27.2 | 6.9 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 4.9 | 5.4 | ||
| 35 | 35 | Takamasa Imai | JPN | 24.4 | 6.0 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 3.3 | 5.1 | ||
| 36 | 15 | Trevor Andrew | CAN | 24.1 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 9.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 |
Qualifying Round 2
| Date | 12 February 1998 — 11:35 | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Top eight finishers advanced to final. | |
| Judge #1 (Standard Airs) | David Desa | CAN |
| Judge #2 (Rotations) | Jason Dow | USA |
| Judge #3 (Amplitude) | Steve Brown | AUS |
| Judge #4 (Landings) | Toru Otsuki | JPN |
| Judge #5 (Technical Merit) | Ola Sundekvist | SWE |
| Pos | Ord | Competitor | NOC | Points | Judge #1 Score (Standard Airs) | Judge #2 Score (Rotations) | Judge #3 Score (Amplitude) | Judge #4 Score (Landings) | Judge #5 Score (Technical Merit) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Brett Carpentier | CAN | 41.8 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 8.2 | ||
| 2 | 10 | Mike Michalchuk | CAN | 41.4 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 8.9 | 8.5 | 8.9 | ||
| 3 | 16 | Gian Simmen | SUI | 39.8 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 7.7 | ||
| 4 | 14 | Sebu Kuhlberg | FIN | 39.7 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 8.3 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Jean Baptiste Charlet | FRA | 39.6 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.5 | ||
| 6 | 11 | Todd Richards | USA | 39.5 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 7.8 | ||
| 7 | 27 | Ross Powers | USA | 39.4 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.4 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Jacob Söderqvist | SWE | 39.2 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.9 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Xaver Hoffmann | GER | 38.2 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 8.3 | 8.0 | ||
| 10 | 15 | Pontus Ståhlkloo | SWE | 37.9 | 8.8 | 5.6 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 8.1 | ||
| 11 | 25 | Iker Fernández | ESP | 37.9 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 8.0 | ||
| 12 | 28 | Kim Christiansen | NOR | 37.7 | 7.7 | 6.6 | 8.4 | 6.9 | 8.1 | ||
| 13 | 4 | Sergio Bartrina | ESP | 37.4 | 8.0 | 8.7 | 6.0 | 7.3 | 7.4 | ||
| 14 | 20 | Ingemar Backman | SWE | 37.0 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 8.3 | 7.1 | 7.6 | ||
| 15 | 12 | Fredrik Sterner | SWE | 36.5 | 8.1 | 5.5 | 8.7 | 6.6 | 7.6 | ||
| 16 | 18 | Max Plötzeneder | AUT | 35.9 | 5.5 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 6.7 | 7.3 | ||
| =17 | 23 | Tony Vannucci Roos | FRA | 35.8 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 7.5 | ||
| =17 | 21 | Derek Heidt | CAN | 35.8 | 8.5 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 7.1 | ||
| 19 | 26 | Bertrand Denervaud | SUI | 35.3 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 6.2 | 7.0 | ||
| 20 | 9 | Takashi Nishida | JPN | 33.4 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 5.4 | 6.9 | ||
| 21 | 1 | Trevor Andrew | CAN | 32.4 | 4.0 | 7.5 | 8.4 | 5.4 | 7.1 | ||
| 22 | 17 | Makoto Takagaki | JPN | 32.2 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 6.6 | ||
| =23 | 6 | Ron Chiodi | USA | 32.1 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 4.8 | 6.7 | ||
| =23 | 13 | Patrik Hasler | SUI | 32.1 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 6.4 | 5.3 | 5.9 | ||
| 25 | 19 | Roger Hjelmstadstuen | NOR | 31.3 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 7.7 | 5.2 | 6.1 | ||
| 26 | 22 | Shinichi Watanabe | JPN | 29.1 | 3.7 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 6.0 | ||
| 27 | 3 | Łukasz Starowicz | POL | 26.5 | 6.9 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 5.7 | ||
| 28 | 2 | Takamasa Imai | JPN | 24.4 | 6.3 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 3.8 | 4.8 |
Final Round
| Date | 12 February 1998 | |
|---|---|---|
| Judge #1 (Standard Airs) | David Desa | CAN |
| Judge #2 (Rotations) | Jason Dow | USA |
| Judge #3 (Amplitude) | Steve Brown | AUS |
| Judge #4 (Landings) | Toru Otsuki | JPN |
| Judge #5 (Technical Merit) | Ola Sundekvist | SWE |
| Pos | Ord | Competitor | NOC | Points | Run #1 | Run #2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Gian Simmen | SUI | 85.2 | 43.8 (1) | 41.4 (4) | ||
| 2 | 13 | Daniel Franck | NOR | 82.4 | 38.1 (7) | 44.3 (1) | ||
| 3 | 2 | Ross Powers | USA | 82.1 | 40.3 (3) | 41.8 (3) | ||
| 4 | 11 | Fabien Rohrer | SUI | 78.7 | 36.4 (10) | 42.3 (2) | ||
| 5 | 15 | Guillaume Chastagnol | FRA | 78.3 | 37.8 (8) | 40.5 (5) | ||
| 6 | 1 | Jacob Söderqvist | SWE | 77.8 | 38.3 (6) | 39.5 (=8) | ||
| 7 | 5 | Sebu Kuhlberg | FIN | 76.6 | 36.8 (9) | 39.8 (7) | ||
| 8 | 7 | Mike Michalchuk | CAN | 76.0 | 38.6 (5) | 37.4 (14) | ||
| 9 | 8 | Brett Carpentier | CAN | 75.6 | 43.3 (2) | 32.3 (16) | ||
| 10 | 9 | Jonathan Collomb-Patton | FRA | 75.5 | 36.2 (11) | 39.3 (11) | ||
| 11 | 14 | Jussi Oksanen | FIN | 73.6 | 33.5 (13) | 40.1 (6) | ||
| 12 | 4 | Jean Baptiste Charlet | FRA | 73.4 | 35.8 (12) | 37.6 (13) | ||
| 13 | 16 | Markus Hurme | FIN | 73.0 | 38.9 (4) | 34.1 (15) | ||
| 14 | 12 | Aleksi Litovaara | FIN | 71.9 | 32.4 (15) | 39.5 (=8) | ||
| 15 | 10 | Klas Vangen | NOR | 70.9 | 33.0 (14) | 37.9 (12) | ||
| 16 | 3 | Todd Richards | USA | 69.6 | 30.1 (16) | 39.5 (=8) |