STAGE SET AS MIGHTY TRIO PREPARE FOR LIFTOFF
THE scene is set for the greatest halfpipe showdown the Winter Olympics has seen with Shaun White, Scotty James and Ayumu Hirano qualifying in the top three places for today’s snowboard final.
Much has been made of the trio heading into the PyeongChang Games with bitter debates about perfect scores, skewed judging and technique v technicality.
But that was cast aside yesterday as the three best riders in the sport laid down markers for the big show.
Australian flag bearer James, who fired up much of the debate by questioning White’s perfect 100 from a World Cup meet last month before bemoaning some of the scores he received, eased into qualification position with an 89-point first run.
He turned it on with the second.
Laying on some of his bigger tricks including frontside and backside 1260s, the Victorian raised the bar and took the qualifying lead with a score of 96.75.
Two-time gold medallist and eight-times X Games halfpipe winner White was up to the challenge.
His second run also included back-to-back 1260s and with his amplitude (air) he was able to score a 98.5.
There were no complaints from James. “Absolutely. I expected to Shaun to come out and put a run down like that. I watched his run – it was a good run – it had good amplitude and was pretty flawless,” James said.
For his part White was glad for the challenge.
“I would have loved to have skated into finals on my 93 (points) but everybody started putting it down,” White said. “I’m like ‘OK, if we’re going there, we’re going there’.”