Shaun White closes out the 2013 Winter X Games with a record sixth gold medal in the SuperPipe. Is the Olympian the best snowboarder ever?
Shaun White is the most decorated snowboarder in the sport and he showed why on Sunday night as he closed out the 2013 Winter X Games in Aspen.
The redheaded snowboarder put up an amazing run in the Snowboard SuperPipe finals, winning his sixth gold medal to tie Snowmobile SnoCross racer Tucker Hibbert's six-peat from Sunday afternoon, which were the first two times that has ever been done in X Games winter sports history.
"I don't think I've ever been more focused and more in tune with what I'm doing physically as well as mentally," said White to ESPN.com. "Six years, that's pretty heavy. It's going to be more uncomfortable next year when I'm going for the seventh. I like it; it's a pretty humbling title to hold. I'm proud."
White has been dominant over both the summer and winter X Games, winning 15 X Games gold medals between snowboarding and skateboarding, including eight in the SuperPipe. During his run on Sunday night, he took the top two scores of the entire field, including a 98.00 on his second run.
Some of the tricks White pulled off included a record-setting 24-foot, 1-inch backside air above the walls of the Buttermilk pipe as well as backside double McTwist 1260. Even though he was the oldest competitor in the field at 26, White looked energetic as he caught huge air heading down the pipe.
The silver medal was snagged by Japanese eighth grader Ayumu Hirano, who made his X Games debuts as a 14-year-old while making a run of 92.33. Finland's Markus Malin earned the first medal of his X Games career with bronze after posting a score of 91.33 after putting up a double McTwist 1260 as well. Scotty Lago also scored 90 points thanks to a rare two-handed truck driver grab on a frontside 1080 at the end of his first run.
White failed to medal in Slopestyle on Saturday, finishing fifth after falling twice during his runs. But the Super Pipe was another story. White could not compete against one of the best though, as Iouri Podladtchikov, who was ahead of White in qualifying, could not compete after coming down with the flu.
"It kind of bummed me out," White said. "I like riding with Iouri. He pushes me."
The win for White was his sixth straight gold in the competition, a dominating record that could be out of reach for some of the other boarders.
In other events, Nick Goepper won gold in Jeep Ski Slopestyle after taking home the silver last year, putting up a third run of 94.00 to outlast four other competitors with 90 scores. He became the ninth different skier to take gold in the past nine years.
"It was nerve-racking," Goepper said of waiting to see if his score would hold. "I was wiping the sweat off my brow every time. I think I almost peed my pants, I was so nervous. I've been dreaming of this moment for years and I'm just so excited."
The other six-peat of the day came in the Snowmobile SnoCross final, after Tucker Hibbert took home the gold medal yet again after winning with an 11-second cushion. The win was his seventh career SnoCross gold medal, coming 13 years after he won his first, at age 15 to become the youngest winner in X Games history.
"I've been doing this for so long, and I still had butterflies all morning," Hibbert said. "That's what keeps it fun. I think the six-peat added to that."
In the GoPro Snowmobile Best Trick event, Daniel Bodin took home gold after posting a 92.33 on his first attempt, while Mike Schultz won the Snocross Adaptive final, finishing at 4:51:882. In the final event, Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen clinched gold in the women's Ski Slopestyle
The X Games will continue later in the year from Tignes, France from March 20 to the March 22. HERE is a full list of results and tricks from the Aspen events.
