“We were on a different planet today with the draft and the way the cars raced," said Kurt Busch, who finished third. NASCAR penalized Bell for going below the double-white line to pass Chastain, giving Chastain second place and dropping Bell to 23rd.
But it’ll be a long time before anyone matches him.Byron, Chastain and Bell fought for the checkered flag even as Wallace, Chris Buescher and Justin Haley began wrecking behind them. The winter sports world was moving on without Shaun White. On the massive hill above him, freestyle skiers were practicing their slopestyle runs. Nearby, Hirano was still conducting his gold medal interviews. “I won’t ever have to be at the top of the pipe stressed again, wondering, ‘Is this the day I might really hurt myself trying to push the envelope?’” “As sad as I am to say goodbye, I’m so relieved,” he said, his voice raw. He’ll still be a part of the sport - he made sure to plug Whitespace, whatever that ends up being, throughout his farewell press tour - but the sport known for its perpetual progression has at long last progressed past its GOAT. He’s content to - well, he’s accepting the fact that he has to - cede the spotlight to Hirano, James and the next generation. Time comes for every athlete, some before they turn 20, some - as in White’s case - after they’ve been to five Olympics. To be beaten, to finally walk away without feeling like, ‘I could have done this.’” To see them finally surpass me is, I think, deep down what I always wanted. “These younger riders, they’ve been on my heels every step of the way.
“Everybody was asking me what my legacy in this sport has been, and I’m like, 'You’re watching it,” he said. Ayumu Hirano landed a triple cork - a trick White was never able to master - to win Olympic gold, and both Hirano and Scotty James are riding at a level so far above White right now that he couldn’t catch them even at his best. White is now part of snowboard’s past, as tough as that is to believe. It's been the love of my life."Īn emotional reflects on his career and his final run. "I just want to thank everyone for watching. “Even the awful moments of sitting in a hospital room thinking what’s next, or coming so close to winning and feeling the agony of defeat.” There weren’t many fans in attendance at Genting Snow Park, but those who showed up cheered him all the way down. His fate sealed, his future now at hand, White pulled off his helmet and goggles and slowly rode down the center of the halfpipe. “It was harsh to fall in that run and not just nail it and pop onto the podium there,” he said. On his second trick, a cab double cork 1440, he wasn’t quite able to stick the landing, and slid onto his stomach. On his final run, White had one last opportunity to ride his way onto the podium. It was vintage, it was genuine, it was the high-water mark of a legendary career … and in 2022, it wasn’t quite enough to land him on the podium. And just for a moment, White looked like his old self, pulling off a frontside double cork 1440 - three diagonal rotations - and a brilliant Double McTwist, the move he’d created so many years ago. So when White dropped in for his second run, there was a bit of daylight there at the top of the leaderboard. The sun glinted off the pipe on the riders’ left, and the difference in air temperature caused trouble for several riders, future medalists Ayumu Hirano and Scotty James among them. White posted a respectable 72.00 his first run, nothing special, but nothing catastrophic, either.
Jay busbee 31 thoughts full#
Every day at the Olympics has brought new “lasts” - last walk in the Opening Ceremony, last time in the athletes’ village, last time showing up on the morning of an event full of nerves, last time worrying about whether he’d score enough points to advance to the next round.Īnd last time dropping into the halfpipe. What do you do when what you’ve always done is over? White has been wrestling with this question for months now, ever since he made the decision in November to retire after these Olympics. Shaun White of Team United States cries after finishing fourth in the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
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