Shaun White’s 100 Proof X Games Halfpipe Gold

by The Editors on January 30, 2012

Real and true and honest moments are so rare in corporate snowboard sport that when they occur it drops the bottom half of our brains out into our laps and leaves us dumbfounded and quivering. That what happened last night (January 29, 2012) when two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, five-time Winter X Games Gold medalist, Target Clothing Designer, video game character, and 2012 Businessweek Power 100 number 8 Shaun White dropped in on his third and final run in the Winter X Games Halfpipe Finals.

White had already won the gold medal with a score of 94 points, edging second place finisher Iouri Podladtchikov by one point. White was perfectly set up to take a victory lap. He could have just made a four hit run of 23 foot straight airs and the gold would still have been his. But Shaun had some unfinished business. In his second run, White had gone down on his last hit. It was the unveiling of his frontside double-cork 1260 and he didn’t land it. We could tell the moment he dropped in on his final run that he was going to try it again.

As we all know, Shaun landed the back-to-back backside double cork 1260 to frontside double cork 1260 on his last two hits and was awarded the first perfect 100 point score in X Games history. And while it seems an almost too perfectly scripted finish for a Walt Disney Company owned made-for-TV entrainment event property, the truth is Shaun White’s run was one of those real, true, honest moments in snowboarding were an athlete’s performance rises above all the bullshit that surrounds the event, the marketing, and the hype and stands alone on its own screaming for everyone to hear: this is snowboarding.

Shaun White seemed as stoked as we all were. “It’s unreal. I’ve been wanting that 100 forever,” he said. “Thank you everyone here tonight. This is unreal. . . I came here on a mission. I couldn’t compete in slopestyle. I was sitting around icing my ankle. I took out a little of the anger that I couldn’t compete in slope on the pipe tonight. I was upset with my first front double 12 and wanted to get it.

For one of the first times in X Games television show history we were glad we were somewhere with cable and able to watch, because missing this was missing one of those epic moments.

Follow the jump for the full results.

Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final Results

RANK NAME RUN 1 RUN 2 RUN 3 BEST
1 Shaun White 94.00 71.33 100.00 100.00
2 Iouri Podladtchikov 90.00 92.00 93.00 93.00
3 Ryo Aono 73.33 68.66 86.00 86.00
4 Christian Haller 33.33 83.00 13.33 83.00
5 Matt Ladley 78.66 29.66 41.33 78.66
6 Louie Vito 70.00 9.33 18.66 70.00
7 Greg Bretz 60.00 10.00 7.33 60.00
8 Luke Mitrani 37.00 32.00 37.66 37.66

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Pierre January 30, 2012 at 10:49 am

I for one (but judges can’t be wrong right?) doesn’t think that run was worth 100.
And I was surprised Shaun thought he worth a perfect 100. When I heard on Sal’s voice something was about to happen (seems obvious now that he knew the score a few seconds before us) my first thought when the 100 came up was that Shaun would say something like “Oh wow, a 100, I don’t know about that, but I’ll take it”. Obviously that wasn’t the case.

There’s no arguing he’s the best half pipe rider on the planet and that that run was the best one in X-Games history but the whole 100 thing is bs.

TY January 30, 2012 at 10:50 am

Fuck Yea Shawn!

People can hate all they want… The fact is that Shawn is the most dominant halfpipe rider of all time and the most recognizable figure in action sports. Sure Slater is unbelievable, but does the world care about his 10 world titles? Not as much as they do about the flying tomato!

We can talk all the shit in the world about Shawn’s business choices but the sad and awesome fact is that he is so much larger than our puny 9 billion dollar industry that we call action sports… Don’t get me wrong, I am all for supporting the endemic brands that keep these sports alive but the Volcom’s and Birdhouses of the world just cant afford Shawn anymore and anyone who rides a board should applaud that!

Shawn has worked so hard to be where he is and he a shining light in an otherwise homogenized, goofy, tall tee, baggy pants dragging in the mud, double bandana, snowboard world… His outfits might be a little ridiculous but have you been to a mountain recently? I would wear Shawns getup’s any day over some of the ridiculous outfits I see these kids wearing everyday!

When you want to talk some shit, take a look at your core score… you know you made sure your pants matched your jacket just a little bit… Can you get two feet out of the pipe? If so, hi five your self cause that’s a feat in its self! 19 foot double corks? That’s some amazing shit right there!

I say thank you to Mr. White for pushing snowboarding to levels I had once dreamed about!

holy shit January 30, 2012 at 4:59 pm

Hey Ty,

i hope for fucks sake your a sarcastic SOB, because if there really are people like you in the world, it’s worse then I thought.

NigHeist January 30, 2012 at 5:51 pm

Kinda hard to argue with what with him landing a front double 12. Best pipe run ever.

the entire core snowboard community January 30, 2012 at 10:57 pm

A score of 100 means perfect. Missing his grab on the bs double and dragging his hands on the last hit… obviously NOT PERFECT. Shaun is the best snow vert rider ever, but that run was scored poorly. End of conversation.

TY January 31, 2012 at 9:18 am

@holy shit… Not an ounce of sarcasm to my post!

Hate all you want! Have you won X-games gold? Are you responsible for creating the double cork in the pipe? Do you have your own Cinema Seone movie? Are you a global celebrity? oh yea… Are you also one of the best vert skaters in the world… I could go on and on and on about Shaun’s achievements… When you achieve one those things feel free to hate! Until then, let try to to look at the positive things that Shaun has done for snowboarding and leave the hating to kids that can barely ride a board.

I have to agree that his run was not a perfect 100, but it was the best pipe run ever thrown down, and that’s how sports progress.

Thanks Shaun for killing it!

yeah right January 31, 2012 at 9:55 am

one question, How come his product don’t sell?

Ed January 31, 2012 at 6:08 pm

@yeah right

Maybe branding everything so blatantly comes off as rubbing it in your face? I respect him so much for what he’s done, but whenever I look at a Burton catalogue I skip right past anything with his branding on it.

I’m not going to comment on the run beyond the fact he clearly deserved the gold. All the scoring bs is meh anyway.

yeah right January 31, 2012 at 8:23 pm

no doubt he deserved to win. I just find it odd his products don’t sell at all. The only stuff that does is the white collection girls, and the oakley holbrook, otherwise his stuff is a herd sell.

Pierre February 1, 2012 at 11:22 am

Others did double corks in the pipe before him. Just sayin.

Warchild February 1, 2012 at 12:17 pm

Like another poster said. Missing a grab and dragging your hand on the pipe wall does not make a perfect score. perfect score regardless of what the trick is means he pulled off and landed all tricks in the run cleanly. Not questioning whether he deserved to win but the xgames tend to over fluff Shaun White’s scores at the expense of a lot of up and comers. There shouldn’t be only one household name in snowboarding there are lots f amazing riders out there today that deserve a lot of recognition and success.

lauderfan1 February 5, 2012 at 7:55 am

Hate to upset anyone that thinks Shaun’s products don’t sell, but you’ve obviously not been in Target lately! Plus a portion of his products at Target benefit Target House, part of the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Part of the proceeds from his Shaun White Supply Co line goes to Boys and Girls Clubs of America. This stuff sells as well. All of his Oakley line sells well. As for whether or not his run was “perfect”, it matters none; he won, he got the score, end of discussion. It’s down in the XGames history books, along with his two Olympic Golds, and numerous other sports medals. Shaun didn’t give himself the score…..blame the judges if you have a problem with the scoring. I watch the comps too and while I am NOT a pro-boarder, I haven’t seen anyone else go as high as him, or take the risks he does. Yes, he’s a household name, but not just because of his athleticism, the guy’s just charismatic, the press loves him and so do the fans. It’s obvious by attendance when his name is announced that he will be competing. Again, that’s not HIS faultl I watched him last summer at the Dew in OC, MD and the guy IS amazing to watch! But all of these riders have a lot more guts than I! They all deserve praise for even attempting those runs! Have a great day, all….sorry, this ole gal can’t hate……

yeah right February 5, 2012 at 8:18 pm

got that partialy right, only a girl who shops at target would say his products sell well. This is a snowboard blog. So I am talking about his snow products, not some lame t shirt at target for a 11 year old. The only oakley item that sells is the holbrook. I am sure he also sells alot of gum. I for one am not saying he is not an amazing pipe rider, cause he is. But I think he sold himself out to early. I think terje used to go as big

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