After an amazing final run, snowboarder Shaun White won the gold medal in halfpipe on Wednesday at the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He became the first American male athlete to win gold at three separate Winter Olympics and snowboarder with most Olympic gold medals in history. The 31-year-old previously won the gold at the 2006 Turin and 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.
In January, while training for the Olympics, White crashed on the edge of the superpipe and suffered a facial injury that required 62 stitches. He recovered in time to participate in the games and even did the same trick in the final run which got him injured in the first place.
“I completely separated my face and I’m thinking, ‘What does this mean?’ We were on such a great path and it was a true question of like, ‘Do I really want this?‘” – said White after winning the medal. “Stepping out on snow again means that I’m willing to let that happen to myself again and that’s a big decision. But I set out to do this goal and I stuck to it and it helped me overcome that fear and then I did the same trick that put me in the hospital to win the Olympics. What an emotional trip.“
After this success, Shaun White has the intention to get on the skateboard and maybe even try to make a run for the medal at the Summer Olympics in 2020, when skateboarding finally becomes an Olympic sport.
“Just to get to the Summer Olympics would be amazing,” – he added. “I’d love to just give it my all and see what happens.“
White’s gold medal was the 100th for the U.S. in the history of the Winter Olympics and fourth in Pyeongchang. Other three gold medals were also won by snowboarders. Red Gerard and Jamie Anderson took the gold in slopestyle discipline while Chloe Kim confirmed American domination with gold in women’s halfpipe.
