Shaun White
 

On Tuesday, at the improbable age of 35, Shaun White will try to qualify for the half pipe final in his fifth and final Winter Olympics. His come from behind final run to take gold in 2018 is IMO one of the epic individual moments in sports.

https://www.nbcolympics.com/videos/p...-gold-last-run

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...dal/336185002/

I remember watching him in his early Olympics, when he was literally 150% better than anyone else out there, and thinking "I'm watching the Babe Ruth fo this sport. A short, skinny, red headed Babe Ruth."

Yep. He was still basically a kid from the skate park lol and definitely had that mentality to go with his amazing talent. I don't think he'll win this time but I would not bet against him.

I remember watching the ad he did for American Express around the time of the 2006 Olympics, and thinking they had to have staged some of the stunts he did. Then I watched his highlights and realized those were for real.

Watch it in slow motion on the replay. It's unreal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he03dVkhLTM

It must have been his second Olympics...the rest of the world had caught up where they were now on the same planet as him (as opposed to the same solar system the first go-around).

Still, he came to the final run and basically all he had to do was slide down the middle of the pipe and not fall and he'd win gold again. The mic caught up part of a conversation with his coach that was something like "What do I do?" and the coach said "Go for it...and when you get to the last part, make sure you f***ing nail it!".

He nodded, went out, did his thing, and to end his run did something nobody had seen before, and he f***ing nailed it.

Yup....still Babe Ruth.

His RC, naturally, is an SI for Kids (2003). Nice portrait of him on the back.

Another miraculous run after a fall on the first last night and he's in the final.

Saw that last night. Don't see a gold in his future with some of the work the Japanese boarders were putting in, but in definite contention for a medal.

I was rooting for him to win a medal, but age caught up with him.

I didn't know my wife cared about snowboarding, but I looked over and she was crying! He's the same age we are. He's been competing nearly half our lives.

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LOL, we're a little older, but I turned it on just in time to see Hirano's 2nd run, and my wife glanced up at the standings and said "Shaun White only has an 85?". I didn't even know she knew who Shaun White was.

Wish White could have grabbed a medal, but it was great to see Hirano's amazing final run, and avoid what could have been a huge controversy.