Shaun White was an emotional wreck after winning his third Olympic gold medal on Wednesday in South Korea -- Tuesday night in the United States -- in thrilling fashion. He burst into tears. He hugged everyone in sight. He jumped up and down. And then, when handed an American flag, he draped it over his shoulder -- but also proceeded to step on it and drag it behind him when he left the finish corral.
Twitter took notice, and a lot of people were angry. And then a lot of other people got mad that people were freaking out at Shaun White for doing such a thing, since it wasn't intentional.
Here's a Twitter story in three parts. First, White's poor form with the flag after his win:
#CmonMan @shaunwhite you can't #Disrespect the 🇺🇸 #flag dragging and then stepping on it. #PyeongChang2018 #OlympicGames2018 #snowboard #halfpipe #snowboarding #USA pic.twitter.com/hfQUPrekvH
— GUCCI_GATT (@howtobaplayer) February 14, 2018
Next, the ensuing freak-out.
THIS FREAK DRAGGED OUR FLAG ON THE GROUND AS FREAK-BOY WALKED AROUND LIKE A BABY BLANKET! Comeback? Way to go? Redemption? Wait until the Army studs grab this freak and KILL him. Way to go, Army! Thank you!
— Ray Shaw (@RayandDaisy143) February 14, 2018
@nbc enough of Shaun White & his Gold Medal. He irresponsibly threw his helmet into a crowd. Then dragged our Flag on the ground & walked on it
— DL Rupper (@gitmo62) February 14, 2018
Proud to see @shaunwhite grab the gold... wish they wouldn’t drag our flag across the ground... blame the Marine in me but minimal effort would show a lot of respect 🤷🏻♂️ #OlympicGames
— Johnny (Joey) Jones (@Johnny_Joey) February 14, 2018
@shaunwhite way to be classy. You win the gold medal and then proceed to drag the American flag across the ground. No respect. No excuses for this. pic.twitter.com/xzbQ71iVqR
— David Sheets (@Sargd66) February 14, 2018
Shaun White drags the flag on the ground and my husband and I are cringingggggg.
— Jenna Hatfield (@JennaHatfield) February 14, 2018
I love how Shaun White wins a gold medal in the Olympics and almost immediately drags the flag across the ground and steps all over it!!!! 😡😡😡
— Bad Luck Brydon (@BrydonGill) February 14, 2018
Shaun White just won the gold but dragged and stepped on the American flag. Is this how you represent your country!
— Sharon (@gns101398) February 14, 2018
Now teach the punk how to respect the flag.
— Rory Holmes (@rholmes2) February 14, 2018
There were, of course, plenty of people on Twitter who were upset with White for showing poor flag etiquette, but they also understood the emotion of the moment.
Shaun white well deserved win I’m stoked for ya but please don’t drag and step on the flag like that #ShaunWhite
— cooner (@conch_scious) February 14, 2018
@shaunwhite First, Shaun, sincere congratulations on your fantastic gold medal achievement tonight. But have you no respect for our flag, really dragging it on the ground? Has no one in your family or any of your friends sacrificed for it? As a veteran, it was anticlimactic.
— Gary Gibbs (@GTGibbs) February 14, 2018
@shaunwhite Congrats on your 3rd gold medal, but can we talk about some flag etiquette????? #USA #Pride #respect
— Maya Barnhill (@barnhillm_02) February 14, 2018
Ok let me first say that I’m super happy for Shaun White. Great showing and congrats, well deserved, fantastic run.... but duuuuude the Flag... come on man, dragging it, stepping on it? I get that you were excited, but let’s work on flag etiquette. #Olympics2018
— Tom DeCaprio 🇺🇸 (@TCDeCap) February 14, 2018
And, then, of course there were plenty of people on Twitter who noticed this whole Shaun White #flaggate saga unfolding and were upset about people being upset about Shaun White -- or just found the whole thing hilarious.
The people that are super heated about Shaun White dragging the American flag a bit have probably never been excited about anything in their life.
— Schmitty🍍 (@MichaelSchmitzz) February 14, 2018
There are actual humans getting mad because Shaun White dragged the American flag a little while he was in a pure emotional state. Barely. Soldiers did not fight for a damn flag, they fought for people. People like Shaun WHO JUST WON GOLD. So give him a break! Stop it.🛑
— Tonji “Princess of Wakanda” Byrd (@tonjibyrd) February 14, 2018
These tweets about Shaun White dragging the US flag on the ground have me dead
— probably playing pubg (@Ant_Tripod) February 14, 2018
Fox News is gonna be sour tomorrow about Shaun White ~disrespecting the flag~
— regina phalange (@rhcphaley) February 14, 2018
And then there was this guy, who seemed to put the whole flag flap in perspective.
As someone who defends the flag for s living, you can’t really be that mad at Shaun White for dragging the flag. Dude just went down over 600ft of a half pipe for the third time and is probably high on adrenaline from winning. Cut him some slack..
— Conor™ (@conorwilson411) February 14, 2018
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Country
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TOTAL
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14 | 14 | 11 | 39 |
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14 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
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11 | 8 | 10 | 29 |
|
9 | 8 | 6 | 23 |
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8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
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7 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
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5 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
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5 | 6 | 4 | 15 |
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5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
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5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
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4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
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3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
|
2 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
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2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
|
1 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
|
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
|
1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
|
1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
|
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
