Snowboarder Shaun White Doesn’t Win Medal In His Final Olympics

Topline

American snowboarder Shaun White fell short of winning a fourth Olympic medal in the men’s halfpipe final at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday, marking the legendary 35-year-old’s last professional competition.

Shaun White of the United States competes in the men’s snowboard halfpipe final at Genting Snow Park … [+] at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Sergei Bobylev/TASS

Key Facts

Japan’s Ayumu Hirano won a gold medal, with judges awarding the two-time silver medalist a score of 96, followed by Australia’s Scotty James with silver (92.5) and Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer with bronze (87.25).

White finished in fourth place with a score of 85, and his hopes for a medal evaporated after he fell on his third and final run.

Two other Americans competed in the halfpipe final: Taylor Gold of Colorado came in fifth place with 81.75, and Chase Josey of Idaho came in seventh place with 79.5.

Surprising Fact

White confirmed Saturday he will retire from competitive snowboarding after this year’s Olympics. White said his decision to retire was influenced by advice from his mentor, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, who told White he wished he’d retired earlier.

Key Background

Despite health problems due to a congenital heart defect, White—a California native—established himself as a prodigy at snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, skiing and soccer, winning his first snowboarding competition at age 7. A 15-year-old White fell just 0.3 points short of qualifying for the U.S. snowboard team in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. White made his Olympic debut in 2006 in Turin, Italy, where he won his first gold medal after scoring a near-perfect 46.8 points out of a possible 50 on one halfpipe run. White also won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, more gold medals than any other Olympic snowboarder. Additionally, White won 18 X Games medals for snowboarding and five for skateboarding between 2003 and 2013. White has also enjoyed some success in business, launching active lifestyle brand Whitespace in January and raking in an estimated $1.5 million in guaranteed payment from sponsors in the 12 months prior to the Beijing Winter Olympics. White’s signature snowboarding maneuver is the “double McTwist 1260,” consisting of two flips performed while completing three and a half twists.

Crucial Quote

“I’ve given it my all,” White told reporters shortly after the 2022 games commenced. “There have been some ups and downs on the way to get here. And with that I feel I’ve got stronger and better.”

Big Number

10. That’s how many medals U.S. athletes have won so far at the Beijing Winter Olympics, including four gold medals, five silver medals and one bronze medal. Germany leads the rest of the world in gold medals, with six, and Austria is in first place in terms of total medals, at 13.