White, Chairman of the Snowboard, back to battle kids
Shaun White remembers the first time he met Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano. “The media was grilling him about, are you going to be the next Shaun White?” White said. “They were like: Are you going to beat Shaun at this event? He’s like 13, sitting with his parents translating for him. He’s like, ‘Uh, I don’t know. I don’t think so.’ ”
That was six years ago, and now that shy 13-year-old from Murakami, Japan, has become the first human to land backto-back 1440s (four revolutions) in a halfpipe competition and a genuine contender in the Pyeongchang Olympic event that opens Monday night (San Diego time) at Phoenix Snow Park.
So is Australian Scotty James, who is 23. And fellow Americans Ben Ferguson, Chase Josey and Jake Pates, who are 23, 22 and 20. And Japan’s Yuto Totsuka, who is 16.
White, known as the “Flying Tomato,” is 31.
It adds yet another intriguing layer to what promises to be an epic showdown, the likes of which we haven’t seen in halfpipe’s 20-year Olympic history. There is the technical angle, with guys not just landing 1440s now but multiple 1440s. And there is the nostalgia angle, a new generation of precocious riders trying to knock off the king from Carlsbad.
White skipped the X Games late last month in Aspen, Col., after getting sick, instead watching the youngsters rip off one incredible run after another on the ESPN telecast.
“It was great to watch those guys’ runs and see their best,” said White, who won gold in 2006 and 2010 before slipping to fourth in 2014. France Japan Sweden Czech Republic OAR Finland Austria South Korea Australia Solvakia Italy Kazakhstan “Now I get to throw my best.”
“It really is going to be a showdown,” James said.
A month ago, James was considered the Olympic favorite. After a growth spurt screwed with his timing and coordination four years ago in Sochi, where he was 21st, he had a breakout year last season — winning the test event on the Pyeongchang pipe and then the World Championships. But then came the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass, Col., last month. White had fallen on his first two runs of the finals, and James had posted a 96.5-point score that most figured would be enough to win. There was one competitor left, White, and he threw down what many regard as the greatest run of all time — opening with a double cork 1440 and closing with a pair of 1260s.
His score: a perfect 100.
Then came Hirano at the X Games. His never-seen-before pair of 1440s got him a 99, and James finished second again.
Not competing in Pyeongchang is defending gold medalist champion Iouri Podladtchikov — iPod for short — after a gnarly crash at X Games knocked him unconscious. The Swiss rider travelled to Pyeongchang and tried training before doctors waved him off. That leaves White on his own to battle the youngsters.
The obvious question: Is what he did at Snowmass enough?
I don’t think we’ve seen my best run. Actually, I know we haven’t,” White said, adding coyly: “I definitely have a couple things in mind that I’ve been working on and want to iron out.” 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1