The teen, who has a unique style inspired by his Italian roots, is nicknamed “The Chef,” and for Wednesday’s program, he was definitely cooking.
WASHINGTON — A 17-year-old snowboarding prodigy made his Olympic debut on Wednesday, representing the United States on the world stage.
Alessandro Barbieri competed in the men’s halfpipe qualification event, alongside his idols, Japanese snowboarder Hirano Ayumu and Australian Scotty James. The teen, who has a unique style inspired by his Italian roots, is nicknamed “The Chef,” and for Wednesday’s program, he was definitely cooking.
Barbieri scored an 88.50 during his first qualifying run, ranking in 4th overall. Australia’s James, who scored a 94, and Japan’s Yuto Totsuka and Ryusei Yamada led the rankings. The top 12 scores across both runs advanced to the final.
Shaun White was among the spectators cheering the American superstar on and gave Barbieri the Olympian seal of approval.
The men’s snowboard halfpipe final is on Friday, Feb. 13.
Who is Alessandro Barbieri?
Barbieri, whose parents are from Milan, has been seen on two World Cup podiums in the past two seasons. His style has gained lots of fans in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics.
“The French people are going to hate me, but Italy is the king of style. And I feel like I take the Italian flair from my parents and put it into snowboarding,” Barbieri told Olympics.com in an interview. “I try to add more flavor into my tricks with different grabs, different combos.”
Barbieri, who is from Oregon, also highlighted how his Italian heritage has inspired his style.
“I see the sport like an art. It’s kind of like food. You have to be different, and every culture has a different flavor. And for me, with my Italian heritage, my flavor of riding is different from the Japanese or everyone else,” the Team USA prodigy told Olympics.com.
He made his World Cup debut at 15 in 2023. He won silver in the halfpipe event at the Gangwon 2024 Youth Winter Olympic Games.
The young Olympian spends his summer competing as a kitesurfer, saying it is perfect preparation for snowboarding, according to Olympics.com.
“I enjoy the flying. It’s uncontrollable, and sometimes you’ll get this magic gust and go up 80 or 90 feet, and it’s like pure adrenaline. And it definitely helps with building my courage. Because if I am used to going up 60 feet in kitesurfing, when I go back to the snow and I want to go 20 feet, it feels like nothing,” he told Olympics.com. “And all these extreme moves like kite-looping, taking the board off, flicking it in the air is keeping your core and your whole body engaged. So it’s also amazing off-season training for halfpipe.”
