Kazuhiro Kokubo
Kazuhiro " Kazu " Kokubo (Japanese国 母 和 宏, Kazuhiro Kokubo, born August 16, 1988 in Ishikari, Hokkaidō ) is a Japanese snowboarder.
Career
Kokubo began his career in 2003 at FIS races in the halfpipe in his native Japan. In Makomanai Kanbayashi and he was able to decide the competitions. At the Junior World Championship 2003 in Prato Nevoso he reached number 22 Shortly thereafter, he started for the first time in the Snowboard World Cup. In his first halfpipe contest he reached there in Sapporo fourth place. Also in the following competitions he drove regularly in the points. In the Snowboard World Championships 2005 in Whistler, he came in the halfpipe on the 14th Place. At the end of the 2004/05 season in Tandådalen he took the third place on the podium for the first time. In the first competition of the season 2005/ 06 he succeeded for the first time a World Cup victory. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, he finished only 23rd place after rather disappointing runs. However, only a year later he won the silver medal in the halfpipe at the Snowboard World Cup 2007, Arosa. In the Winter Universiade in Harbin in 2009 he won the gold medal in the halfpipe and big air. His most last FIS tournament were the snowboarding competitions of the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he finished in eighth place. Previously, he had to suspend a controversial debate after him the Japanese Olympic Committee to participate in the opening ceremony under said since he had not complied with the dress code. In Ticket to Ride World Snowboard Tour, he could enter several successes in the meantime, including at 6 - Apply Star, the highest class of the series.
Achievements
Ticket to Ride
- Victory at the Burton U.S. Open Halfpipe March 7, 2011, Stratton Mountain, Vermont, USA, TTR 6 Star
- Victory at the Burton U.S. Open Halfpipe 15 March, 2010, Stratton Mountain, Vermont, USA, TTR 6 Star
- Victory at the Burton New Zealand in the halfpipe, July 29, 2008 Snow Park, New Zealand, TTR 5 Star
- 2nd place at the Burton European Open Halfpipe, January 8, 2011 Laax, Switzerland, TTR 6 Star
- 2nd place at the Nippon Open Halfpipe and Slopestyle 25 February, 2008, Bandai, Japan, TTR 5 Star
- 2nd place at the Abominable Snow Jam in the halfpipe, July 7, 2006, Mount Hood, Oregon, USA, TTR 4 Star
FIS World Cup
- 3 World Cup victories (3 x Halfpipe )