WOF congratulates Shaun White on winning gold

Painting by Richard Stergulz
STERGULZ ART

SHAUN WHITE  official website

The man who has pushed the envelope the most, Shaun White, won his second Olympic gold medal.

First, he locked down the victory with a solid effort on the first run of the final round. Then, gold medal in his baggy pocket, White thrilled the crowd and his competitors and even himself by taking half-pipe to its next frontier with a successful Double McTwist 1260 - White's newest, state-of-the-pipe signature move.

"I just felt like I didn't come all the way to Vancouver not to pull out the big guns," White said after receiving a score of 48.4 for the second run. "I put down the tricks I've worked so hard on. It was the savvy thing to do. Saucy. Keep it weird."

The pre-Olympic talk about challengers from Finland(Peetu Piiroinen), Switzerland (Iouri "iPod" Podladtchikov), and the United States (Scott Lago, Louie Vito) proved to be just that - talk. The gap between White and the other competitors was apparent even to the most novice half-pipe observers.

It was like watching Ryan Howard take on Julia Robertsin in the Home Run Derby.