World gets pre-Olympic view of Asian dominance on the halfpipe

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — Chloe Kim sat out with an injury. Shaun White has been retired for four years. Without them, the world got a peek at what snowboarding on the halfpipe looks like heading into the Winter Olympics: It is now a sport dominated by Japanese, with other Asian stars in the mix. Japan's Ryusei Yamada and Korea's Choi Gaon won the men's and women's World Cup events Friday at Copper Mountain on a blustery day that featured only one American on either podium: 18-year-old Bea Kim, who took third in the women's contest, ahead of Japan's Sena Tomita. America's Chloe Kim competed in qualifying Wednesday but suffered an undisclosed injury in the lead-up to the final and sat out. U.S. Ski and Snowboard didn't provide details about the injury. This was the only pre-Olympic event Kim had signed up for, and how missing this final might impact her upcoming schedule remains to be seen. The two-time Olympic gold medalist is the only U.S. halfpipe rider already qualified for Milan Cortina, as the American team looks for someone to join her as the sport's headliner now that White, the