Snowboarding

White Fourth In Sochi Halfpipe Upset

by
USSA
2014-02-11 14:20
 

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Feb. 11) – Two-time Olympic champion Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) put it all on the line Tuesday during the men’s halfpipe snowboarding final in an effort to win his third Olympic gold medal but ultimately fell short, finishing fourth and earning the top spot for the USA. White’s second run score of 90.25 put him just off the podium behind the new Olympic champion Iouri ‘I-Pod’ Podladtchikov of Switzerland and Japanese riders Ayumu Hirano in silver and Taku Hiraoka in bronze. NBC will feature the men’s final in its special Olympic primetime coverage Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. EST, and the event can be replayed in its entirety on NBCOlympics.com. The women are set to take on the halfpipe Wednesday, Feb. 12 with qualification beginning at 5:00 am. EST.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Two-time Olympic champion Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) put it all on the line Tuesday during the men’s halfpipe snowboarding final in an effort to win his third Olympic gold medal but ultimately fell short, finishing fourth and earning the top spot for the USA.
  • White’s second run score of 90.25 put him just off the podium behind the new Olympic champion Iouri ‘I-Pod’ Podladtchikov of Switzerland. Fifteen-year-old Ayumu Hirano earned silver with his teammate Taku Hiraoka taking bronze.
  • Despite world-class event preparations at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, a full day of competition plus spring-like temperatures created slushy bumps in the halfpipe and provided an extra level of difficulty for all of the athletes.
  • Both Danny Davis (Truckee, CA) and Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) were not able to put complete runs to their feet and finished 10th and 12th respectively.
  • U.S. Snowboarding rookie Taylor Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) qualified for the semifinal but narrowly missed the final, finishing eighth out of six available spots.
  • NBC will feature the men’s final in its special Olympic primetime coverage Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. EST, and the event can be replayed in its entirety on NBCOlympics.com. The women are set to take on the halfpipe Wednesday, Feb. 12 with qualification beginning at 5:00 am. EST. All the halfpipe action can be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com.

QUOTES
Shaun White
Tonight was just one of those nights. It’s a bummer. I had a game plan. I had a specific run I wanted to land and I didn’t get to put that down. That’s one of the most frustrating things for me. If I land my run and I’m beat then I’m okay with that, but I definitely didn’t get that chance tonight and it happens.

It’s all about the fans, the people that come here to watch. Being an Olympian is nothing to scoff at. I’m definitely proud to be here representing the U.S. I’m proud to be an Olympian. I had a tough night, but I think I affected a lot of people that have never seen the sport before. But I don’t think tonight makes or breaks my career. I’ve been snowboarding for so long. I love it and it’s given me so much. I’m happy to take this for what it is and move on and continue to ride.

Danny Davis
It’s always tough to fall on two runs. To land one and get screwed by the judges or something like that–I can handle that. But I hate not landing two runs, especially in this event with such a big crowd and the amount of media here.

Getting to the Olympics was a mission, through injury and through the amount of great riders in the U.S. Just getting to the Olympics was an accomplishment in itself. Not riding well here hurts a little bit when you spend a lot time trying to get to one event, but life goes on.

Greg Bretz
I came out here to do one thing and I’m really stoked that I was able to stay in one piece all season for this event. I mean, it’s the Olympics you’ve got to go for it.

Conditions in the halfpipe were really challenging. I just didn’t get the snap that I wanted to on my cab double and I wasn’t able to pull it off.

RESULTS
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