White fights to squeeze into halfpipe showdown

Snowboarding legend Shaun White of the United States said on Wednesday that he had to fight to get to the halfpipe finals of his fifth and final Winter Olympics.

The three-time gold medalist fell on the Double McTwist 1260－the trick that he invented－on his first run at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, and ended in 19th place during the qualifier at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

"It would have been nice to just cruise in, but I had to work for it. That has been the case this entire season for me because I had to grind it out and work for it," the 35-year-old said after his second-run Double McTwist 1260, which he nailed.

White ended up in fourth place after scoring 86.25 points. He qualified behind two-time silver medalist Ayumu Hirano of Japan, 2018 bronze medalist Scotty James of Australia and Hirano's teammate, Ruka Hirano.

White said he wouldn't hold anything back during the finals.

"I obviously have bigger and better tricks that I want to pull out. I'm going to give my all in every run. Hopefully, I can put the pressure on the other riders."

After arriving in China, White announced that Beijing 2022 will be the last competition of his career.

"This will be my last call. It will be my last competition, which is pretty special, too," he said.

He added that it's a relief because getting to the finals at Beijing 2022 has been extra challenging.

White had to deal with injuries and go all the way to the last qualifying event to make the team.

Unfortunately, he also contracted COVID-19 in the middle of it, which presented additional challenges because of a pre-existing heart condition.

Australian snowboarder James said White's legacy will speak for itself.

"He's an incredible competitor, and I think he's just universally very respected as an athlete. From him being someone I looked up to, to then being someone I had to try to beat, it's quite an evolution."

James added that he had no complaints about the qualifying round.

"It's a beautiful day in China, and the halfpipe is pretty much perfect. So, as a rider, I'm pretty happy, Obviously, the result was always the cherry on top."