‘Flying Tomato’ peels back years to win gold
pyeongchang — Snowboarding legend Shaun White savoured the feeling of “redemption” Wednesday after he produced a jaw-dropping final run to win his third Olympic halfpipe title Wednesday, bringing up a 100th Winter Games gold for the United States in the process.
The 31-year-old, who won at the 2006 Turin Games and in Vancouver four years later, delivered his brilliant best when it really mattered after Japan’s Ayumu Hirano had asked serious questions about the American’s stomach for a fight in Pyeongchang. Going for broke in the day’s final descent, White held his nerve as he nailed back-to-back 1440 spins to score 97.75 points, pipping Hirano’s second run by just 2.50.
Two-time world champion Scotty James of Australia took bronze after an opening score of 92.00. “I watched Ayumu beat my previous run’s score and I was pretty frustrated,” said White, known as the “Flying Tomato” because of his red hair.
“The pressure was on,” he added. “I just told myself, ‘you know you got this — it’s what you’ve done your whole life, so savour this moment because you might just win the Olympics’. “I knew I had it in me to do it.” As he exited the pipe after that final run, White punched the air in delight but he admitted that what followed was both “awful and amazing” as he waiting agonisingly for his score.
When it finally flashed up, he hurled away his board in excitement and sank to his knees. “It was an eternity,” he told reporters. “I guess I’m almost expected to do these flawless runs and I can’t help but wonder if they’re kind of going to nit-pick my run because of that. “I knew I put down an amazing ride and I could walk away with my head held high. But I had to dig deep for this one and getting that score at the end was overwhelming — I was crippled with joy.”
Victory was all the more sweet for White after he flopped in Sochi four years ago.
“My third gold medal at my fourth Olympics,” he sighed. “I’m feeling blessed. It means the world to me to come back from Sochi. “It was a deja-vu situation, standing there needing to land a run to win the Olympics and I just couldn’t do it (in Sochi). I was defeated in my mind before I dropped in.” —