Shaun White Ends His Olympic Career With 4th Place Finish
Trying for a fourth Olympic gold medal, the 35-year-old snowboarding champion was surpassed by his heirs apparent. That, in itself, was enough.
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ZHANGJIAKOU, China — It all came to an end here, on a tilted chute of ice on an unnamed mountain in China, and the only surprise was that 35-year-old Shaun White did not have one more trick in him. He had made a career of such things.
His final ride down the Olympic halfpipe came after a fall. He popped onto his feet and took off his helmet, raising it to the air. He slid downhill slowly on his snowboard, into the warm embrace of adulation and off toward the unknown.
Riding in his fifth and final Winter Olympics, searching for his fourth gold medal, White finished in fourth place.
“I’m proud of this life I’ve led, and what I’ve done in this sport, and what I’ve left behind,” he said afterward, during a long slog of interviews in which he swung from laughter to tears and back again.
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His eyes, as red as the tousled hair on his head and the days-old stubble on his cheeks, welled up again when he was asked about his legacy.
“You’re watching it — these younger riders,” White said. “They’ve been on my heels every step of the way, and to see them finally surpass me is, I think deep down, what I always wanted.”
He had witnessed three riders who surpassed him, none more than Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, the slight 23-year-old and two-time Olympic silver medalist who has been a miniature reflection of White for years.
Hirano landed the first triple cork in a completed run in competition, and when his score fell just short of Scotty James’s, he landed another triple cork and another run, even better.
Hirano’s 96-point ride on the competition’s final run won him the gold medal. James, 27, a lanky Australian who has been at the forefront of the sport for years, and who won bronze four years ago, earned the silver medal ahead of Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer.
“I’ve got to finish out my collection in four years,” James said, braving a smile through the disappointment. “I’ve got a lot of motivation.”
White gave Hirano a hug.
“It’s your turn,” he said.
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The competition, on a sunny day in a perfect halfpipe, promised to be high-flying, and it was. The strong Japanese contingent had eyes on spinning its way to the podium, led by three Hiranos – Ayumu, Kaishu (his younger brother) and Ruka (no relation). James, in his fourth Olympics, came searching for the elusive gold.
Taylor Gold, the American veteran who fought years of injuries after his 2014 Olympic appearance, brought his technical, old-school style, hoping the judges would award ingenuity, not just rotations. He finished fifth.
But the focus was on White. He had called this a farewell tour, though it was unclear if he was saying goodbye to competitive snowboarding or fans were saying goodbye to him. Both, probably. Either way, the last competition was anything but an exhibition. White had earned his way to the Olympics, after a long season of injuries, Covid and doubts.
He seemed re-energized, and relieved, to have made it through qualifications on his second and final run — drama, always drama — knowing that he would leave the sport still in its elite class.
White had qualified fourth, which meant he was the fourth from last to ride in each of the three rounds, in an event where only each competitor’s best score counted. White hoped to plant a big run in his first attempt, to put pressure on his competitors and give himself room to try to elevate even higher in rounds 2 and 3.
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He began solidly with a run that was a video encyclopedia of his familiar tricks — a frontside double-cork 1440, a cab double-cork 1080, a frontside 540, a double McTwist 1080 and a frontside double-cork 1260.
On his second run, he did it all better, earning 85 points and a spot in second place. Just as White had hoped, the pressure was now on the younger riders, to see if they could handle the moment the way White had so many times at the Olympics.
Beginning in Turin 16 years ago, through Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang, White had won in three Olympics and settled for fourth the other.
White’s spot in second this time did not last long. James took a big lead with a 92.5. Hirano followed with a run that opened with a triple cork and ended with him upright, a historic moment for those who follow the sport closely.
James, barely in the lead, could not improve his score in the final round, leaving the issue of gold and silver to Hirano in the last run. Hirano, a human top with a low center of gravity — and a good enough skateboarder to qualify for the Summer Olympics last time around — outdid himself and everyone else.
It was a dramatic moment, forever linked to White’s final competition.
“I did what I could,” White said. “I’m proud of fourth. I would have loved third, but then I would have wanted second, and if I got second I would have wanted first.”
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Maybe fourth was the right spot for White’s story, leaving his three gold medals to stand on their own.
When White stood at the top of the pipe for his final run, he raised his hand and circled his finger as if to say, “Let’s go.” He had one shot to get onto the podium.
He tried to add an extra rotation to his cab double cork, but fell on his backside and slid into the trough of the pipe. That is when White took off his helmet and slowly slid back into the next phase of his life.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/sports/olympics/shaun-white-olympics-halfpipe.html
