The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
White comes through with golden effort to win halfpipe going away
PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA » The pressure was real. So were the tears of joy, relief, redemption.
This is why Shaun White keeps going. This is why the snowboarding superstar returns to the Olympics again and again, a journey that’s seen him evolve from teenage phenom to global brand to icon. One with a perpetual target on his back and impossible expectations to meet.
Standing atop the halfpipe on a gray Wednesday morning at slushy Phoenix Snow Park with his hopes for a third gold down to one final shot. White never wavered.
“I honestly knew I had it,” White said. “I knew I had to put it down.”
The stakes left him little choice. Rising star and heir apparent Ayumu Hirano had snatched the lead out of White’s hand during the men’s halfpipe final, throwing a spectacular epic second run to vault into the lead and put a portion of White’s Olympic legacy at risk. Not that it mattered. One deep breath, a halfdozen near flawless tricks including back-to-back 1440s, a trick he never landed in competition before these finals and one seemingly interminable wait later White’s return to the top of his sport was complete.
When his score of 97.75 flashed, more than two points clear of Hirano and almost six clear of Australian bronze medalist Scotty James, it all seemed worth it. The long road back from disappointment in Sochi four years ago. The painful recovery from a crash in New Zealand last fall that required emergency surgery. The notion the man who for so long served as a pioneer had been surpassed by the next generation. Not quite yet. “He wears the weight of the country and the world on his shoulders for this,” said J.J. Thomas, White’s longtime coach. “This is our Super Bowl. But bigger because it’s only once every four years and he stresses out.”
Hardly looked like it. 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.
“What can I say? I won the Olympics,” White said. “Three gold medals. I was just hoping they’d give it to me. I was pretty sure I put it down but it took a little while. Just trying not to make eye contact with the judges.”
In the Mix
Lawes and Morris were too good in the mixed doubles curling final, with Switzerland conceding in the sixth end of the match after missing an opportunity for a takeout with its last shot of the end. That gave Canada another two points. Seeing no way to come back from the deficit, the Swiss ended the game.
The team from Russia picked up bronze with Anastasia Bryzgalova tumbling onto the ice but bouncing back with teammate — and husband — Aleksandr Krushelnitckii for an 8-4 victory over Norway. Bryzgalova was shuffling backward in the third end when she stumbled over a stone and had her legs fly out from under her and she crashed hard onto her backside. The spill drew gasps from the stunned crowd and left a stunned Bryzgalova embarrassed for a moment.
Dutch Double
Kjeld Nuis led teammate Patrick Roest in a 1-2 finish in the 1,500 meters to give Netherlands four wins from four finals in speedskating at the Olympic Oval.
The Dutch have now won eight of 12 medals at the Pyeongchang Games, keeping them on the stunning medal pace set at the 2014 Sochi Games when they finished with 23 out of 36.
Cross Country
Klaebo won gold in the men’s cross-country sprint, with Frederico Pellegrino of Italy getting the better of a photo finish to take silver ahead of Russian competitor Alexander Bolshunov.
Stina Nilsson of Sweden won the women’s crosscountry sprint. Maiken Caspersen of Norway was second and Russian skier Yulia Belorukova took bronze.
Yet again, there was no medal for the United States. Jessica Diggins placed sixth, failing in her quest to become the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.
Striking gold
Geisenberger is the third woman to win consecutive Olympic luge golds, joining fellow German greats Steffi Martin Walter and Sylke Otto.
She beat German teammate Dajana Eitberger and Alex Gough, who took bronze to give Canada its first Olympic luge medal.
Erin Hamlin of the United States was sixth.
Hot water
Japanese short-track speedskater Kei Saito tested positive for the banned diuretic Acetalozamide in the first doping case of the Pyeongchang Games.
Saito, a reserve on the 5,000-meter relay team, said in a statement that he was “extremely shocked” by the results and has “never used anabolic steroids.” He did not race in any event before the test result from a pre-competition sample was confirmed.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Saito “accepted on a voluntary basis to be provisionally suspended and to leave the Olympic Village.” Yasuo Saito, vice president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, said the JOC would work to help the 21-year-old skater clear his name after the Olympics.
Weather delay
The start of Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid for multiple medals at the 2018 Olympics was delayed yet again when the women’s slalom was postponed from Wednesday to Friday because of strong winds.
It’s the third time in four days an Alpine skiing race was shelved because gusts made it too dangerous for competition to take place as scheduled.