There was already a fantastic Olympic final for women snowboarders in the halfpipe earlier this week; now it’s the men’s time.
Gold medalist Chloe Kim made history in the women’s final of the snowboard halfpipe event at the Olympics by becoming the first woman to win back-to-back titles in the event.
As for the men, American Shaun White won the gold medal in the halfpipe event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. White also won the event in Torino (2006) and Vancouver (2010).
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe Final
The 35-year-old, though, is hardly a favourite to repeat as Olympic champion in Beijing. False; not a single person in the United States is. Scotty James, a rider from Australia, has the best chance of preventing a clean sweep of the podium by the Japanese in the men’s halfpipe final.
It’s still possible for an underdog to win the championship if the favourite loses and the underdog goes on a scoring tear.
Let’s go down the 12 riders who made it out of the preliminaries and see who to keep an eye on for Thursday night’s final (Friday morning in China).
Complete Lineup for Men’s Halfpipe Event
- American citizen Chase Josey
- Swiss national Patrick Burgener
- German Andre Hoeflich
- Japan’s Kaishu Hirano
- Jan Scherrer, Switzerland
- Taylor Gold, USA
- Japan’s Yuto Totsuka
- Australia’s Valentino Guseli
- 9. American snowboarder Shaun White
- Ruka Hirano, Japan
- Australia Scotty James
- Japan’s Ayumu Hirano
Futures Bets on Men’s Halfpipe
- Bonus 150 points for Ayumu Hirano
- James Scott +250
- In favour of Shaun White, 500 to 1.
- +850 Yuto Totsuka
Timetable for Men’s Halfpipe
- Time and day: 2/10/2014
- It is currently 8:30 PM EST Time.
- TV: NBC
The men’s halfpipe riders on Tuesday night didn’t seem to be aware that they were only competing in a qualifying round.
The field of 25 snowboarders hailed from 12 different countries and delivered some pretty heavy riding. Broadcasters first called James’s second run-ending frontside double 1620 tailgrab, but the official results analysis graded it as a 1440. Ayumu Hirano began his second run with back-to-back double cork 1440s (four full rotations, two off-axis flips).
Last Words
At first, White appeared to be in serious jeopardy due to the extremely difficult riding conditions. The stakes were high for his second attempt after he slipped on his heel edge on his first run. He had fallen to 19th place, well outside the top 12 qualifiers.
In his second run, however, the American landed a series of impressive tricks, including a frontside double 1080, cab double 1080 melon grab, frontside 540, Double McTwist 1260 Weddle grab (his signature trick), and a frontside double 1260, which allowed him to advance to the finals as the fourth place finisher. Thanks for reading our article Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe Final.
