San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BEIJING CLOSER FOR WHITE
NBC keeps running promos for the Winter Olympics in Beijing featuring snowboarder Shaun White as if he already has been named to the U.S. team.
He hasn’t.
But the three-time halfpipe gold medalist and one of the biggest names in the Games moved a step closer to that reality — or maybe eventuality — with a podium finish at the final World Cup event before the Feb. 3 Opening Ceremony.
White, a Carlsbad resident, was third behind Japan’s Ayumu Hirano and Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer at the Laax Open on Saturday in the Swiss Alps. That alone doesn’t get him on the four-man U.S. halfpipe team. A top six world ranking on Dec. 22 would (White was 13th), or a podium finish from any of the four U.S. qualifying events (White was fourth, eighth, seventh and DNF).
But any unclaimed spots
— only Taylor Gold clinched one — can be filled with discretionary picks by U.S. Ski & Snowboard, and White’s podium in Laax means the federation won’t have to snub a higher ranked rider to take the 35-year-old icon.
White entered the day as the fourth American in the world rankings at No. 14. He moved up four spots, passing Chase Josey and Lucas Foster. Gold is eighth.
“We’re going to China !!!!!!!!!! ” White posted on Instragram with video of him celebrating in the snow. “What an amazing night. I’m so thankful to be still putting down runs at this point in my career and earn my spot for this year’s Olympics. Thank you to all my fans, friends and family that have supported me for over 20 years.”
What didn’t change, though, are White’s chances at a fourth gold medal: not great.
White received 84.00 points on his first run in the final, which was clean but underwhelming in terms of degree of difficulty. When none of his countrymen surpassed him in the second run, White played it safe and glided through the pipe without attempting any big flips, knowing his ticket to Beijing was secure.
Then three Japanese and top qualifier Scotty James of Australia all failed to land a clean run, allowing White to fortuitously stay on the podium.
Hirano scored 93.25 on his first run and made it seven straight wins by Japanese riders at the major snowboarding events over the past year. Last month, Hirano became the first person to cleanly land the elusive triple cork in competition, and several other riders have landed it in practice. White has not.
But at age 35, with lucrative endorsement bonuses likely hinging on an Olympic appearance, just reaching a fifth Winter Games is a victory of sorts for White. And he does have a flair for the dramatic, winning the 2018 gold in South Korea by landing back-to-back double cork 1440s for the first time in his career on the competition’s final run.
White withdrew from the last U.S. qualifier last weekend at Mammoth Mountain because of lingering symptoms from a bout with COVID-19 and a tweaked ankle from the qualifying round. That left him as the fourth-ranked American, with a couple riders who could jump ahead of him with a good result in Laax.
“That’s why I flew all the way to Switzerland,” White told Rolling Stone earlier in the week. “You know, they have a discretionary spot so they can kinda pick people for the team. And I don’t know the full process. … But I didn’t want to leave it up to a vote, so I’m out here trying to get it done.”
U.S. Ski & Snowboard must name the team by Jan. 21. The men’s halfpipe in Beijing begins Feb. 9.
mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com
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