Shaun White Wins His Third Olympic Gold Medal With A Dramatic And Near-Perfect Final Halfpipe Run

REDEMPTION FOR SHAUN WHITE!

HE WINS GOLD on his final run in men’s snowboard halfpipe! #BestOfUS #WinterOlympics https://t.co/E1XuTKbGvd pic.twitter.com/b4Yn2jVVGN

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 14, 2018

After his ridiculous 98.5 qualifying run for the Men’s Halfpipe competition, Shaun White was primed for another Olympic gold medal. Unlike most qualifying runs that hold back before really trying to wow the judges, White pulled out all the stops — his signature double mctwist 1260, a double cork 1080, and more. It was smooth. He looked like a man possessed. And it led him to his third Olympic gold.

In fact, let’s look at that qualifying run again before we get into it.

Since White came in on top of the qualifiers, he dropped in last of 12 competitors with a monster run that started with a ridiculous frontside 1440 into multiple 1260s. Absolutely ridiculous. He was so pumped at the end of his beautiful run that he chucked his helmet with two more runs to go. His first run finished, surprisingly, at *only* a 94.25 which gave him a two-point lead over the competition. Here is his first run of the finals (which this author thought was better than his perfect 100 run he made to get into the Olympics).

On his second run, he slowed down after a great start but then pushed a little too hard to make up for it, which led to a fall. At this point, White was in second place with one run to go.

In his final run, White started it off with back to back 1440s into his double mctwist. It was as good of a run he could’ve possibly pulled off and the drama was thick. When the scores were read, White was on top with a 97 and the tears began to flow.
https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/963610066808131585

After missing out on a medal in 2014, this was the 31-year-old White putting a final stamp on his pioneering career. Will he be back in four years? Will he be able to repeat this greatness again? He was already the oldest snowboarder on the halfpipe.