Shaun White Doesn't Medal in Snowboarding Halfpipe at 2022 Olympics

Legendary American snowboarder Shaun White ended his Olympic career without a medal in the men's snowboarding halfpipe final on Thursday (Friday in Beijing) at Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium, finishing in fourth place. 

White entered the final after finishing with the fourth-best score in the qualification round with an 86.25. However, he didn't get that score easily after crashing in his first run of qualifiers to score a 24.25. 

The 35-year-old rebounded in his second run of qualifiers with a Double McTwist 1260 to qualify for the final. 

White carried that momentum into the final, where he was joined by fellow Americans Taylor Gold and Chase Josey. His first run was highly impressive as he scored a 72.00. However, his second run was even better as he scored 85.00. 

Unfortunately, White fell on his third run to cap off what was a historic career. He finished fourth behind Japan's Ayumu Hirano (gold), Australia's Scotty James (silver) and Switzerland's Jan Scherrer (bronze).

White previously told the Today show that this year's Winter Olympics would be his last for the United States:

"“It’s hard to talk about because my whole life I’ve kind of been looked at as somewhat superhuman, because I do these things ... I’ve prided myself on being that individual. And, man, realizing and admitting to myself and everyone else, 'yeah, I’m human'—it’s taken a toll."

White won gold in the men's snowboarding halfpipe in the 2006 Turin Games, 2010 Vancouver Games and 2018 PyeongChang Games. He finished fourth at the 2014 Sochi Games.

White still goes out on a high note, having never finished worse than fourth place in the halfpipe at the Olympics. 

He entered this year's Games as an underdog, as Hirano entered as the favorite to win gold. James also had very high expectations entering Beijing. 

---

Final Standings

1. Ayumu Hirano, Japan: 96.00 (gold)
2. Scotty James, Australia: 92.50 (silver)
3. Jan Scherrer, Switzerland: 87.25 (bronze)
4. Shaun White, United States: 85.00
5. Taylor Gold, United States: 81.75
6. Valentino Guseli, Australia: 79.75
7. Chase Josey, United States: 79.50
8. Andre Hoeflich, Germany: 76.00
9. Kaishu Hirano, Japan: 75.50
10. Yuto Totsuka, Japan: 69.75
11. Patrick Burgener, Switzerland: 69.50
12. Ruka Hirano, Japan: 13.00