Ikuma Horishima of Team Japan lands after crashing as he competes in the Men’s Dual Moguls 1/8 Finals against Nick Page of Team United States on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on Feb. 15, 2026, in Livigno, Italy. (Hannah Peters / Getty Images)
By Jack Davis February 16, 2026 at 7:40am
A Japanese skier won his Olympic race going backwards across the finish line.
In the men’s dual moguls event on Sunday, Ikuma Horishima was competing against American skier Nick Page, according to Yahoo Sports.
In this first-ever dual moguls competition at a Winter Olympics, Horishima ended up making it to the finals, where he won a silver medal after losing to Canadian Mikael Kingsbury.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES.” 😳
Dual moguls madness as Nick Page skis out of the course for a DNF while his opponent, Ikuma Horishima, barely stays in control and skis over the line BACKWARDS for the win. pic.twitter.com/hFqqi5gnQE
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 15, 2026
As noted by The New York Times, the dual moguls event is one in which two skiers compete down a bump-filled slope and perform acrobatics after the fly off ramps. Sunday was the day a single-elimination competition took place, which meant the end of the Olympics for the losers.
Horishima was wobbly after his first jump, but regained control.
He then approached the second jump, where the landing did not work out as planned.
He recovered from his crash to regain his footing, but by that time he was skiing backwards.
Still going backwards, Horishima crossed ahead of Page.
In the end, as long as Horishima finished he would have won, because Page missed a gate during an uneven run and was disqualified for a rules violation.
The female dual moguls event had a similarly bizarre incident.
American Jaelin Kauf crashed, which seemed to wipe out her chances, but her opponent, Perrine Laffont of France, missed a gate and was disqualified.
That meant that once Kauf finished, regardless of her time, she was the winner.
She eventually won a silver medal.
As noted by The Japan News, Horishima had a bumpy ride in the finals, but this time fortune did not smile upon him.
He lost his balance and never made it to his second attempt at a jump.
“I’m so disappointed that I could not race through until the end,” he said.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
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Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues
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