Four years after falling short of expectations, Ikuma Horishima exorcised some Olympic demons by winning a Beijing Olympic Games bronze medal the hard way.
Entering the games in China, Horishima was considered the most likely challenger to Canadian moguls monolith Mikael Kingsbury, but when the Japanese faltered at the first qualifying hurdle two days ago, it looked like he was in for a repeat of his 2018 debut.
In a show of great resilience, the 24-year-old from Gifu Prefecture fought his way through a do-or-die qualifying run and three finals to earn his first spot on an Olympic podium.