GOOD AS GOLD
Shaun White, U.S., halfpipe: White’s stomped third run made him the first American male to win gold at three separate Winter Olympics. Speedskater Bonnie Blair earned gold in the 1988, 1992 and 1994 Games. The gold was also the 100th overall gold for the United States in the Winter Games— all four U.S. golds in these Winter Games were won by snowboarders.
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Shaun White’s train of thought was briefly derailed Tuesday by the music blaring at Phoenix Snow Park. The song was “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and the lyrics seemed fitting: “No wind, no rain, nor winter’s cold can stop me, baby …”
White, the 31-year-old U.S. snowboarder, had just produced two near-perfect halfpipe runs and finished first in qualifying for Wednesday’s medal round. Among the 12 finalists was 19-year-old Ayumu Hirano of Japan, who last month became the first snowboarder to land back-to-back 1440s, four revolutions each, in competition. In 2006, when White was Hirano’s age, he won the first of his two Olympic titles with a run that included two 1080s.
Playing catch-up in the sport he revolutionized, White planned to uncork a 1440 in Wednesday’s final — the same trick that led to a nasty crash in a practice session last fall, resulting in a gash that required 62 stitches. “I watched these young guys do amazing runs and it fired me up,” White said. It certainly did. With a near-perfect final run, White edged out Hirano in Wednesday morning’s competition for his third gold medal — and landed back-to-back 1440s on the winning ride. It was a soaring comeback for White after Hirano had nailed a ridiculous series of stunning flips and twists to score a 95.25 on his second run, one point better than White had posted earlier.
But Hirano fell on his final turn, leaving the door open for White, who delivered the run of his life, scoring 97.75 to win his first gold medal since 2010. He finished fourth in Sochi four years ago.
The quest for more complex tricks is coded in the DNA of adrenaline seeking athletes like White, passed down from generation to generation.
“It’s just the evolution of the sport,” White said.
But in pushing the envelope, the athletes are also pushing their own luck.
Conspicuously absent from the competition was the 2014 Olympic champion Iouri Podladtchikov, who withdrew last week because of the lingering effects of a head injury that he suffered during a fall at last month’s Winter X Games in Colorado. Podladtchikov, 29, participated in one practice at Phoenix Snow Park before releasing a statement saying it was “in no way safe or responsible” for him to compete.
A gloom fell over the halfpipe early in the second run when 16-year-old Yuto Totsuka, the youngest finalist, ricocheted off the wall on his second trick and spun out. He was tended to by paramedics, who immobilized him on a sled and carted him off the course.
The day before the men’s final, American Chloe Kim, 17, performed two 1080s — as White had 12 years before — on her way to the gold in the women’s halfpipe. During her runs, Kim’s family members watched anxiously from the bottom of the hill. Asked which trick made her the most apprehensive, Kim’s mother, Boran Yun, said, “the whole run, from the beginning to the end.”
While Kim celebrated, one of her fellow teenage competitors, Emily Arthur of Australia, assessed the damage after she face-planted near the end of her third run. Arthur, 18, who finished 11th, remained facedown in the snow for several seconds before she shakily got back on her feet. She had a bloodied nose, a swollen lip and a swollen eye, and she said her head hurt, but she later told an Australia Channel 7 reporter, “I’m good and I’m alive.”