X Games: White saves best for last

Aspen, Colo. -  After falling on his first two runs, Shaun White needed a huge final run to capture the gold.

And like the true performer he is, White did exactly what he needed to do, grabbing his second consecutive gold medal in Snowboard SuperPipe Men’s – becoming the first man or woman to do so in the 13 years of the Winter X Games.

“I was feeling cursed,” a jubilant White said. “I didn’t think I needed three runs to get it done. I knew I had the run in me; I just had to put it down. I can’t believe I won it again, back-to-back gold medals are amazing.”Aspen, Colo. -  After falling on his first two runs, Shaun White needed a huge final run to capture the gold.

And like the true performer he is, White did exactly what he needed to do, grabbing his second consecutive gold medal in Snowboard SuperPipe Men’s – becoming the first man or woman to do so in the 13 years of the Winter X Games.

“I was feeling cursed,” a jubilant White said. “I didn’t think I needed three runs to get it done. I knew I had the run in me; I just had to put it down. I can’t believe I won it again, back-to-back gold medals are amazing.”

The winning run included his signature back side rodeo, a back side 900, a front side 1080 into a back side 1080, a front side 900 and a McTwist giving White a score of 91.66 to nudge past Kevin Pearce’s 90.66.

“It was tough having to sit at the bottom of the mountain and watch Shaun take the final run,” the silver medalist Pearce said. “I know he always throws it down in the end.  It is not a position I want to be in ever again.”

The victory was a bit of redemption for White, who was defeated by Pearce earlier this month at the European Open, in Laax, Switzerland.

Finland’s Antti Autti, who won the event in 2005, scored an 87.33 which was good enough for the bronze.

The Snowboard SuperPipe competition is arguably one of the most exciting competitions in the world.  The 500-foot long, 22-foot deep “U-shaped” SuperPipe is 60-feet from lip-to-lip with a pitch of 18 degrees.  The world-class pipe allows for maximum amplitude and speed, giving the riders space to perfect progressive tricks.
 
X Games men’s superpipe final results:
1.         Shaun White                         Carlsbad, Calif.                         91.66
2.         Kevin Pearce                             Norwich, Vt.                              90.66
3.         Antti Autti                            Rovaniemi, Finland                    87.33
4.         Elijah Teter                                Belmont, Vt.                              86.00
5.         Mason Aguirre                      Mammoth, Calif.                        76.00
6.         Steve Fisher                            Breckenridge, Colo.                   75.33
7.         Andy Finch                                 Truckee, Calif.                           70.00
8.         Louie Vito                          Bellefontaine, Ohio                    55.00