Shaun White Olympics

2022 - 2 - 11

shaun white olympics 2022

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

Shaun White Ends His Olympic Career With 4th Place Finish (The New York Times)

Trying for one last Olympic medal, the 35-year-old snowboarding champion was surpassed by his heirs apparent. That, in itself, was enough.

That is when White took off his helmet and slowly slid back into the next phase of his life. On his second run, he did it all better, earning 85 points and a spot in second place. Hirano, a human top with a low center of gravity — and a good enough skateboarder to qualify for the Summer Olympics last time around — outdid himself and everyone else. White had qualified fourth, which meant he was the fourth from last to ride in each of the three rounds, in an event where only each competitor’s best score counted. The competition, on a sunny day in a perfect halfpipe, promised to be high-flying, and it was. But the focus was on White. He had called this a farewell tour, though it was unclear if he was saying goodbye to competitive snowboarding or fans were saying goodbye to him. I would have loved third, but then I would have wanted second, and if I got second I would have wanted first.” He slid downhill slowly on his snowboard, into the warm embrace of adulation and off toward the unknown. White had earned his way to the Olympics, after a long season of injuries, Covid and doubts. He popped onto his feet and took off his helmet, raising it to the air. Hirano’s 96-point ride on the competition’s final run won him the gold medal. He had made a career of such things.

Look back at the McTwists and turns of Shaun White's golden ... (WYPR)

Shaun White said farewell to his storied Olympic career Thursday evening ET, proving that at 35 he's still among the world's elite snowboarders.

While acknowledging his struggles to record another jaw-dropping run, White added, "I did what I could and I'm proud of fourth." At the Beijing Games, it was another trick — one which has eluded White — that decided the competition: the triple cork 1440. But that undersells it a bit: the triple cork "entails spinning four full rotations while simultaneously inverting three times," as NBC Sports says. He created the Double McTwist 1260 — it "combines three-and-a-half twists and two flips," the Olympics explains. "A lot of emotions are hitting me right now — the cheering from the crowd, some kind words from my fellow competitors at the bottom. Shaun White said farewell to his storied Olympic career Thursday evening ET, proving that at 35 he's still among the world's elite snowboarders.

Winter Olympics 2022 - Shaun White's farewell, Mikaela Shiffrin's ... (ESPN)

Shaun White, Mikaela Shiffrin and U.S. women's hockey? Say no more. Here's the action from Thursday in Beijing.

She was the 11th of 44 skiers to compete and was in eighth place at the time of her finish. The reigning Olympic champion finished ahead of South Korea's Choi Minjeong in silver and Belgium's Hanne Desmet in third. She won silver in the latter in 2018. On Thursday, she looks to change that with a hearty dose of super-G, because as Shiffrin said, "super-G is fun." This time, the judges awarded him a 96.00 -- and with it, the Olympic gold. He fell on his third run, and his highest score of 85 on his second run wouldn't get him to the podium. White stopped at the scoring area, hugging his competitors around him and shedding a few tears. Shiffrin won the 2019 world championship title in the event but had never competed in it during previous Olympics. She will still have two more chances to win a medal during these Olympic Games -- next week's downhill and combined races. Then, two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who failed to finish in her first two races of these Games, turned things around in the super-G. In his third run, he came back out and landed an even better performance. As he did at the Sochi Olympics, he finished in fourth place. After recording two uncharacteristic "Did Not Finish" results in the giant slalom and slalom races earlier in the week, leaving doubt as to the rest of her competition schedule, Shiffrin completed the super-G with a time of 1:14.30.

Shaun White closes out Olympic career without another trip to the ... (NBC News)

Snowboarder Shaun White, the face of modern winter sports, closed out his Olympic career Friday in Beijing without adding another medal to his collection.

“I wished my final run was a little more outstanding, you know I still had some tricks to do and I was so close to the podium,” White said. White punched his ticket to Friday morning’s final with a fourth-place finish in qualifying. “I’m just enjoying every single moment,” he said shortly after the opening ceremonies. Referring to his competitors, he said: “Everyone catching up. "I remember thinking, I’ll never have to be stressed about getting these runs in anymore. “A lot of emotions hitting me right now.

Shaun White's Finale, Halfpipe History, Score Controversy: Watch ... (NBC Chicago)

From wows to shock to tears to relief, it was an emotional night in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Whatever craziness Hirano might have been feeling about the score was channeled into his final run. However, the judges gave him a score of 91.75. “Every step of the way has been great,” White said. James earned a score of 92.50 on his second run and was immediately followed up by Ayumu Hirano. The two-time defending silver medalist seemingly had a better run, which included the first ever triple cork in Olympic halfpipe history, and should have moved into first place. As White ended the last run of snowboarding career in the 2022 Winter Olympics, competitors lined the bottom of the halfpipe to congratulate the snowboarding great on a legacy like no other. The two-time gold medalist and three-time medalist had a nightmarish start to the 2022 Winter Games. She skied out during her first run in both the slalom and giant slalom, the latter of which she was the reigning Olympic champion in.

Shaun White comes up short of medal in men's halfpipe, final ... (USA TODAY)

Shaun White finished fourth at the Beijing Olympics, capping off a career in which he won three gold medals but couldn't add to them in China.

On Friday, he embraced the end of a career that made his sport and himself popular with a mainstream audience. In the years since, the physical toll of the sport he has mastered has taken greater prevalence in his mind. “Him putting the gloves on and getting in the ring at his age and giving those guys a run for their money, it’s unbelievable.” He finished his final snowboarding competition, arguably the best in history, with gratitude. In 2014, he entered the Sochi Games as a favorite after winning the previous two Olympic gold medals. But he pulled out of slopestyle before its Olympic debut, and he struggled in the halfpipe on his way to a fourth-place finish. Hirano, 23, became the first to land a triple cork in the halfpipe in a full run. White finished fourth in the Beijing Games, falling on the second of back-to-back double cork 1440s on his final run. But at 35 and in his fifth and final Olympics, White’s best was no longer enough to ensure the kind of supremacy he once enjoyed. Hirano saw White’s back-to-back double cork 1440s secure him gold in Pyeongchang four years ago, so he took the progression further. “I can’t help but think if I would have hit the podium in third, I would have wanted second. “Everybody was asking me what my legacy in this sport has been and I’m like, you’re watching it,” White said.