Snowboarder Shaun White saves best for last, wins gold again in Olympic halfpipe
After getting blanked in Sochi, White earns his third Olympic gold medal in the men's halfpipe
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1 min read
On the single biggest run of his life, Shaun White was golden -- again. The 31-year-old American snowboarder delivered an incredible performance in the very last run of the event on Wednesday in South Korea -- Tuesday night in primetime in the United States -- to score a 97.75 and jump to the top of the leaderboard, clinching his third Olympic gold medal in the event.
Heading into his third and final run, White sat behind Japan's Ayumu Hirano, who overtook White in the second round with an impressive run that earned him a 95.25. Knowing he needed an aggressive, strong run to surpass that number, White brought his best.
The American delivered with the back-to-back 1440s he needed, then added an additional pair of 1260s in what would prove to be the winning run.
REDEMPTION FOR SHAUN WHITE!
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 14, 2018
HE WINS GOLD on his final run in men's snowboard halfpipe! #BestOfUS #WinterOlympics https://t.co/E1XuTKbGvd pic.twitter.com/b4Yn2jVVGN
That completed the redemption story that White was in search of when he headed to South Korea. The snowboarder claimed back-to-back Olympic golds in 2006 and 2010, but shockingly left Sochi empty-handed in 2014 after struggling in the halfpipe. Despite suffering some brutal setbacks in training leading up to this year's Winter Games, he was determined to get back to the podium.
To reclaim glory in Pyeongchang, he needed the run of a lifetime ... and he found it. After that final run, White was overcome with emotion as he celebrated with his mom and other loved ones.
We're not crying, you're crying. #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS pic.twitter.com/nCc69b6VvN
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 14, 2018
As somewhat of a cherry on top, White's gold was the United States' 100th in Winter Olympic history.
Behind White, the 19-year-old Hirano earned silver -- his second straight -- while Australia's Scotty James finished with bronze.
Earlier in the competition, Japanese snowboarder Yuto Totsuka suffered a brutal crash that sent medical personnel scurrying up to the pipe to attend to him. He was taken off on a stretcher.
Medal Tracker
PyeongChang 2018
|
Country
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14 | 14 | 11 | 39 |
|
14 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
|
11 | 8 | 10 | 29 |
|
9 | 8 | 6 | 23 |
|
8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
|
7 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
|
5 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
|
5 | 6 | 4 | 15 |
|
5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
|
5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
|
4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
|
3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
|
2 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
