The Flying Tomato Wins Gold in the Half-Pipe
Redheaded snowboarding superstar Shaun White, nicknamed the “Flying Tomato” for his wild red hair, punked the competition on the halfpipe Sunday, beating out teammate Danny Kass to win the Olympic gold medal that so many expected him to get.
It was another dominating day in snowboarding for the Americans, who fell one bronze medal short of repeating their history-making sweep of 2002.
A solid run by third-place finisher Markuu Koski of Finland wrecked those hopes. Eighteen-year-old Mason Aguirre of the U.S. placed fourth.
It was no surprise that White supplied the magic. Wearing a stars-and-stripes bandanna across his face, his mop of red hair peeking out from under the helmet, he soared through the crystal blue sky for the winning score of 46.8 on his first run of the finals.
That run offered the typical brilliance from this California kid, a 19-year old who got his first endorsement deal six years ago. With AC/DC’s “Back In Black” blaring over the sound system, White practically touched the sky on his first jump, soaring about 25 feet over the edge of the pipe. He came back with consecutive 1080-degree jumps, grabbing his board on both, which earns big style points from the judges. Then, it was a pair of 900s, each high enough that he could pretty much pick his landing spot on the snow.
In halfpipe final, riders get two trips down the chute and only their best score counts. After White’s winning run, he waited and watched the 11 riders take their second trip. Nobody could best his score, though, and when the second-to-last rider, Koski, fell on his final jump, White knew he had the gold wrapped up.
source: White a Winner, Kass Comes in Second
Tags: half-pipe, Snowboarding, Torino_2006Related Stories
POSTED IN: Light the Torch, Snowboarding
1 opinion for The Flying Tomato Wins Gold in the Half-Pipe
yc
Feb 12, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Shaun White has dominated Snowboarding competitions even prior to the Olympics.
While I applaud White’s performance, I’m afraid he has made the Snowboarding event, dare I say it, “boring.”
To make things interesting, the Olympic Committee should make him compete on one leg with both hands tied behind his back. That will bring the excitement back into snowboarding.
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