Japanese half-pipe rider Taku Hiraoka started getting noticed at contests in 2009, aged just 14. Now he’s pulling in top results, and just keeps getting better.
2014 was a banner year for Taku, with Olympic bronze and Red Bull Double Pipe silver. He didn’t quite manage to prevent a Danny Davis repeat at the 2015 X Games, but he finally took down the big dogs at the Burton US Open shortly afterwards. You only need to look at his first hit to know that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in any pipe contest he enters.