ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Olympic gold medalist Ayumu Hirano headlines the roster of snowboarders who will compete in The Snow League, Shaun White's new set of halfpipe contests that brings together top athletes to compete for $1.5 million in prize money.
Hirano won gold at the Beijing Games by completing a run that featured a risky triple cork jump that hadn't been landed previously as part of a complete halfpipe run. White finished fourth in that contest — the last of a career that spanned five Olympics and included three gold medals of his own.
The 38-year-old envisions The Snow League as a way to unite action sports, which traditionally have run through scattered schedules that create difficulty in bringing together the best in the sport.
Others in the field include Americans Maddie Mastro and Lucas Foster, 2022 Olympic medalists Queralt Castellet and Sena Tomita, and Gaon Choi, who last year became the youngest Winter X Games halfpipe gold medalist at age 14.
Back-to-back Olympic champion Chloe Kim, who has supported White's league, is not on the list of competitors.
White's group has secured a deal with NBC and Peacock to televise and stream the league, which kicks off March 7-8 in Aspen.
Plans are to include freeskiing on the halfpipe for events beyond the debut, which have not yet been announced.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
FILE - Japan's Ayumu Hirano competes during the men's halfpipe finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
PARIS (AP) — The appeal trial of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen opened in Paris on Tuesday, with her 2027 presidential bid hanging on the outcome of the case.
Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds. She was slapped with a five-year ban from holding elected office and two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
She says she’s innocent.
The appeal trial is scheduled to last for five weeks, with a verdict expected at a later date.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
PARIS (AP) — France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen returns to court Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging on the outcome of the case.
Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds. She was slapped with a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended sentence and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine.
“I hope I'll be able to convince the judges of my innocence,” Le Pen told reporters Monday. “It’s a new court with new judges. The case will be reset, so to speak.”
She was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year's ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. Le Pen denounced it as “a democratic scandal.”
Her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls, and Le Pen alleged that the judicial system brought out “the nuclear bomb” to prevent her from becoming France’s president.
The appeal trial, involving Le Pen and 11 other defendants, is scheduled to last for five weeks. A panel of three judges at the appeals court in Paris is expected to announce its verdict at a later date, possibly before summer.
Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may or may not bar her from running in 2027. She could also face up to 10 years in prison and a 1-million euro ($1.17 million) fine.
In March, Le Pen and other party officials were convicted of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants who instead had other duties between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules. Some actually did work for the party, known as the National Front at the time, in French domestic politics, the court said.
In handing down the sentence, the judge said Le Pen was at the heart of a “system” set up to siphon off EU parliament funds — including to pay for her bodyguard and her chief of staff.
All denied wrongdoing, and Le Pen argued the money was used in a legitimate way. The judge said Le Pen and the others did not enrich themselves personally.
The legal proceedings initially stemmed from a 2015 alert raised by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament, to French authorities.
The case and its fallout weigh heavily on Le Pen’s political future after more than a decade spent trying to bring the far right into France’s political mainstream. Since taking over the party from her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011, she has sought to shed its reputation for racism and antisemitism, changing its name, expelling her father in 2015 and softening both the party’s platform and her own public image.
That strategy has paid dividends. The National Rally is now the largest single political group in France’s lower house of parliament and has built a broad network of elected officials across the country.
Le Pen stepped down as party president in 2021 to focus on the presidential race, handing the role to Jordan Bardella, now 30.
If she is ultimately prevented from running in 2027, Bardella is widely expected to be her successor. His popularity has surged, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership.
Le Pen's potential conviction would be “deeply worrying for (France's) democracy,” Bardella said Monday in a New Year address.
Far-right party National Rally president Jordan Bardella speaks during his New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center, is framed by Louis Aliot, left, and conservative lawmaker Eric Ciotti during National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
