Day 7 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Japan's Ayumu Hirano swept to victory on Friday at the snowboarding halfpipe, landing not one but two triple cork 1440s — an immensely difficult and technical trick that had never before been landed in Olympic history.

The 23-year-old also landed a frontside, a cab, two double cork 1260s and a frontside double cork 1440 — a flawless run that was given a final score of 96.

He narrowly beat Australia's Scotty James, who also performed well on his final of three runs — but he lost some speed, placing him in a solid silver position.

Hirano's younger brother, 19-year-old Kaishu Hirano, was also competing in the halfpipe finals today. Though he crashed out in the last run, he also pulled off an incredible jump that launched him several meters into the air, to roaring applause from the crowd.

Japan's Ayumu Hirano has won the snowboarding halfpipe with a massive score of 96, narrowly beating out Australia's Scotty James.

Switzerland's Jan Scherrer takes bronze, with US legend Shaun White just inched out of the podium at fourth place.

Snowboarding legend Shaun White fell on his last run on the halfpipe, which places him out of reach of the podium at his final Olympic Games.

He landed a frontside 1440 to open, but couldn't land his next trick, and skated to the bottom to applause from fans in the crowd.

With a best second-run score of 85, he now sits in fourth place.

He announced last week he would retire after the Beijing Olympics, citing a spate of injuries.

White bows out as a five-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist in halfpipe.

Japan's Kaishu Hirano pulled off a massive jump during his final run at the snowboarding halfpipe, as the crowd roared its approval.

The 19-year-old hung in the air for several seconds, keeping his grab on his board until the last minute, achieving incredible height.

He fell after attempting another trick, with a third-run score of 15.75 — making his first-run score the best of three, at 75.5.

It's all change after the riders completed the second round of runs in the men's snowboarding half pipe.

Australia's Scotty James is in first place with a second-run score of 92.50, followed by Japan's Ayumu Hirano (91.75) and Switzerland's Jan Scherrer (87.25)

US legend Shaun White is in fourth with a best score of 85.

US snowboarder Shaun White just smashed his second run on the halfpipe, nailing every trick to post a score of 85 and vault into the silver medal position.

He picked up his speed during the second run compared to the first, gaining big air and sticking stronger landings.

He still has one run to go, with the best score of three runs taken as the final result.

Currently, Australia's Scotty James is in first place with a second-run score of 92.50.

Team USA's Shaun White had a successful first run at the snowboard halfpipe on Friday, pulling off all his tricks without much issue for a score of 72.

He included his signature trick, the Tomahawk — also known as the Double McTwist 1260 — which he unveiled during his victory lap at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Though he landed slightly flat after a Cab Double Cork, the run puts him in fourth place.

The snowboarders have two runs left, with the best score among the three taken as their final result.

The mandatory daily Covid-19 test is usually the least pleasant part of the day for those inside Beijing's Olympic bubble.

But the experience turned into a moment of human connection for one CNN reporter, who showed up to the testing center to see a number of soon-to-be-used test vials arranged into the pattern of a heart and "2022."

It struck a contrast to previous days of testing, which felt sterile and impersonal, with volunteers and staff hidden behind layers of protective gear and face masks. When the reporter asked staff why they arranged the vials that way, they said they knew being tested daily was uncomfortable, and wanted to do something to make people feel more welcome.

When asked what the experience has been like for them so far, the staff responded that they missed their families — a sentiment our reporter could relate to. They pulled out their phones and showed each other photos of their families.

The demands of the bubble: The "closed loop" separates Olympic athletes, support staff, media and volunteers from the rest of the Beijing public — but the stringent requirements are exacting, with an especially high cost for Chinese volunteers.

The first batch of volunteers, including health care workers, drivers, cleaners and chefs, entered the bubble on Jan. 3 — and they're all required to stay until the Games end on Feb. 20. Once they leave the bubble, they must then undergo 21 days of strict quarantine at a designated facility.

That means they must spend more than two months away from family and had to miss Lunar New Year, which took place last week and is the biggest festival in China. It's the most important time for families to gather, likened by some to Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years combined.

As Winter Olympians vie for gold in Beijing, global attention has turned to events in the extensive Olympic "bubble" — a zone sealing off visiting athletes, media and participants from the rest of the host city to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

But in a different part of Beijing, prominent human rights activist Hu Jia is again living in another kind of bubble: what he says is a house arrest imposed by authorities who want him out of public view during the Games.

"In China, people like me are called 'domestic hostile forces'... that's why they have to cut me off from the outside world," said Hu, who gained international prominence as a champion of human rights in the early 2000s and was a friend to late Nobel Peace Prize winner and dissident Liu Xiaobo.

Hu says he has been restricted to his residence, with the exception of trips to care for his ailing mother, since Jan. 15. It's an escalation of the round-the-clock state surveillance Hu says he has been under for nearly two decades.

It's also treatment he has become used to during sensitive political events in China. Hu said he was originally told to leave Beijing altogether and relocate to Guangdong during the Olympic period but an outbreak of Covid-19 prevented him from going.

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