White spins, flips and McTwists his way to halfpipe gold
Boarder wanted to call his signature trick the Tomahawk after a steak he enjoyed
Last Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010 | 1:13 PM ET
New York Times for CBC Sports
USA's gold medallist Shaun White celebrates after the men's snowboard halfpipe final run 2 on Feb. 17, 2010 at Cypress Mountain. (Adrian Dennis/Getty Images)Shaun White wanted to call his signature trick the Tomahawk after a steak he enjoyed in Aspen. It sounds much cooler than the Double McTwist 1260, which is as hard to get off the tongue sometimes as it may be to land. Or maybe the Double Eagle.
Doesn’t matter what you call the trick, it is White’s to own.
The American snowboarder and international celebrity captured the gold medal in men’s halfpipe with as impressive a performance as any since his 2006 victory in Turin.
It was his second run in the final, when he landed the trick he had worked on in secret at a remote halfpipe in the Colorado mountains, that earned him a winning score of 48.4.
But his first run of 46.8 would have been enough for gold.
Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen took silver and Scotty Lago of the United States won bronze.
White’s first run, which featured back-to-back double corks, massive air and a 1080 to close, was an impressive tease.
“I just felt like I didn’t come all the way to Vancouver not to pull out the big guns,” White said after he won. “I put down the tricks I’ve worked so hard on.”
He made no secret of the fact that he wanted to throw the Double McTwist 1260, or Tomahawk, here in Vancouver.
And everyone huddled in the grandstand at Cypress Mountain knew it was coming.
No one was disappointed, certainly not White who was chanting U.S.A. with Lago as the two medal winners stumbled and kicked in the snow of the halfpipe after.
White, Lago and their fellow Americans (Louie Vito and Gregory Bretz also made the final) had stiff competition from riders from Finland and Japan, and a game run in the medal round from Switzerland’s Iouri Poldatchikov, who finished fourth.
Vito was fifth while the 19-year-old Bretz was 12th after muffing both his runs.
