Shaun White — Olympic gold medalist, X Games gold medalist and ESPN The Magazine-dubbed “American badass” — won the 2007 World Superpipe Championship in Park City on Saturday.
The world’s best skiers and snowboarders were at Park City Mountain Resort to compete in the championship, an annual half-pipe competition. Among the competitors were J.J. Thomas (USA), Xaver Hoffman (Germany) and Iouri Podladtchikov (Russia), who is the current Ticket to Ride World Snowboard Tour leader. But the day belonged to none other than The Flying Tomato himself — White.
White was like a rap star as he flew down the pipe accompanied with hip-hop music. Fans rushed White for autographs, pictures and hugs.
Other competitors received cheers and applause, but none had the celebrity status of White
White’s first run, like most riders’, was moderately conservative. It was his second and third runs that earned him a first-place spot. On his second run, White started with a back-side 540 into a front-side 720 and ended with back-to-back 1,080s.
White impressed the judges with his versatility on his third run. His first two airs were back-to-back 1,080s. Only White and one other rider, Danny Davis, were able to hit 1,080s back-to-back at the beginning of the competition.
White said he felt really good in the pipe, though the snow was something he needed to get used to at first. White wasn’t used to riding a half-pipe in such soft snow, and to perform his high-altitude airs, he just needed to “pull out of the slush,” he said.
Nevertheless, The Flying Tomato took first place and the $15,000 purse. Second place went to Danny Davis, and Mason Aguirre took third.
This win puts White in fifth place on the Ticket to Ride World Snowboard Tour.
