I wanted a victory lap that would be remembered. I achieved that.”
The words of half-pipe snowboarder Shaun White endure as a brilliant summary of his achievement at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Not only did he make history in Vancouver, but he did so with pure showmanship.
Having already secured the gold medal, his second at the quadrennial tournament, with a score of 46.8, White attempted his signature move to bow out in style – the Double McTwist 1260. One brief chat with his coach and White was decided.
Tumbling through the air with three and a half twists and two head-over-heel flips, he had the Vancouver crowd in his palm. White landed it perfectly, so perfectly it elevated his score to an Olympic best of 48.4.
For all of sport’s magical moments, there are few instances where the pure entertainment of it all is woven so closely to the narrative.
That night in British Columbia propelled White to new levels of fame, particularly for a winter sports athlete. Yet the sport that made him an Olympic champion and a multi-millionaire star is remarkably young and has spent less than 20 years in the winter games.
>The success of White and the beautifully niche half-pipe snowboarding is perhaps the finest example of the direction in which the sports of the slopes is set.
Half-pipe snowboarding joined the Olympic roster in 1998, with freestyle skiing sports such as mogul, slopestyle and cross added in years since. Disciplines once defined by their military and hunting backgrounds have been liberated in a flurry of varied and artful forms.
It’s a growing air of eccentricity and finesse that is apparent in every detail. For the 2010 games, the snow trousers worn for the half-pipe competition were designed to mimic ripped jeans and White sported a bandana with the design of the same flag he’d later stand under.