Ayumu Hirano went from being a virtual nobody on the halfpipe to an overnight sensation.  This young-gun threw down some amazing tricks in his debut season and has landed on the podium just behind Shaun White on several occasions.

While most shredders are just entering the contest world at 14 years old, Hirano was being slated as the one to take down Shaun White and take the sport of snowboarding to a whole new level before he even turned 15! At 15 years old, he did it–Hirano beat White at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he earned silver in halfpipe, White finished fourth.

Hirano is your standard definition of a prodigy — a person with exceptional talents and we’re looking forward to seeing how Hirano and snowboarding progress.