A generation ago, the sight of an Olympic halfpipe podium drenched in red, white and blue was as common as fresh powder on the mountain — a fitting and expected celebration for a sport born and raised in the United States. With Shaun White now in retirement, America's other great champion, Chloe Kim, is the only remaining U.S. snowboarder at these Winter Olympics favored to win a halfpipe medal in the contests that start with qualifying Wednesday. The rest of the top contenders are from Japan, which boasts defending champion Ayumu Hirano and this year's second-ranked rider, Yuto Totsuka, with Australia's Scotty James and a few others sprinkled in from other spots in Asia and even New Zealand.
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