Olympics Snowboarding Men’s Halfpipe Final: Shaun White wins 3rd gold with clutch final run

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea played host to the Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe Finals on Tuesday, which once again turned into the Shaun White show.

Team USA’s Shaun White was looking for his third gold medal in the men’s halfpipe in South Korea this week and he got just that on Tuesday.

The two-time gold medalist in the men’s halfpipe tasted defeat at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and he was determined to not let that happen again.

“I was left with this empty feeling inside,” White told NBC before the event.

Four Americans made the final 12 for Tuesday’s event, including White, Ben Ferguson, Chase Josey and Jake Pates. In addition to the Americans were representatives from Australia,  Japan, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland, China and Korea, among others.

White seemingly clinched the gold medal in his first of three runs, scoring a whopping 94.25 and bumping Australia’s Scotty James (92.00) into second place and Team USA’s Josey (87.75) into third, but there were still two more runs to go.

The second run was devastating for Japan’s Yuto Totsuka, who took a hard fall and had to be stretchered off the course.

White, the leader in the first round, fell in his second run, dropping him into the second spot just behind Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, who scored 95.25 in his second run. Australia’s James fell to third, forcing Josey into fourth place and in danger of going home without a medal.

The final run proved important for White, who needed more than a 95.25 in order to walk away with the gold medal. After a phenomenal final run, White walked away with a score of 97.75 to take his third gold.

Final Standings

MEDAL RESULT | Men's Snowboarding Halfpipe

Shaun White

Ayumu Hirano

Scotty James

Next: Winter Olympics Snowboarding Halfpipe: What are the rules and score?

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