Yuto Totsuka of Japan won the gold medal in the men's snowboard halfpipe at the Winter Olympics on Friday in a hard-fought battle that ended with Australian Scotty James just missing out on the big prize that has eluded him through five Games.

LIVIGNO, Italy — Chloe Kim was trying to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic halfpipe titles, but the American’s bid for history was ruined by Choi Gaon’s sensational final run, which secured the teenager the Olympic title.

Scotty James, Ayumu Hirano and Cam Melville Ives are among the names to know as men's snowboard halfpipe commences with the qualifying round on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Chloe Kim could become the first snowboarder to claim three straight gold medals when she competes Friday at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Kim takes on the women's halfpipe final at 1:30 p.m ET.

While the snow blanketed the late-evening sky deep in the Italian Alps, and one after another, the best female snowboarders on the planet kept slipping, skidding and crashing out, Chloe Kim wrestled with her shot at history.