Shaun White’s halfpipe goal is third gold

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Shaun White sat on his couch as he watched history’s best halfpipe contest unfold.

The American snowboarding star plans to make the next contest — the one where they hand out the Olympic gold medal — an even better show.

On Thursday, White said he is working on the tricks Japan’s Ayumu Hirano used to win at the Winter X Games last month. Hirano became the first person to string together back-to-back 1440-degree jumps in what was widely regarded as the best show ever seen in a halfpipe.

“I’m excited to compete with him,” White said. “He’s really pushing it, and he did an amazing combination that I’m working on myself. I don’t think we’ve seen my best run.”

White’s best run, at least this season, came at Snowmass in an Olympic qualifier in January. White used one 1440, along with his patented double McTwist 1260, to win the contest with a maximum score of 100 — one of the rare times that mark has been handed out.

It established him as the man to beat at the Olympics. But a short two weeks later came the X Games, where Hirano strung together his back-to-back 1440s — the first time that had ever been done in a competition — and Scotty James finished a close second on a run that included three 1260s, including one in which he rode and spun backward into the wall to execute the double cork.

“To this point, it was the most progressive halfpipe contest we’d ever seen,” said J.J. Thomas, the 2002 bronze medalist who coaches White. “And I think now, as long as the weather holds up, this one will probably be even better.”

Practice on the Olympic halfpipe starts today, with the men’s final set for next Wednesday.

White is in his fourth Olympics. Though he has two gold medals and is, far and away, the most recognizable figure in his sport, he concedes his fourth-place finish four years ago at the Sochi Games was a blow.

“It was a nice eye-opener for me of what life’s really like,” he said. “The bubble is shattered, and what’s next? I was able to make that decision.”

The decision was to keep moving forward, upping the ante in order to return to the top. For White more than anyone, that means only one thing: winning the Olympics.

Even an amazing X Games that didn’t include him hasn’t changed his plan.

“It was great to watch those guys runs and see their best,” White said. “Now I get a chance to throw my best and see how it stacks up.”