Wednesday evening was my first time watching the halfpipe, and the snowboarding superstar,”The Flying Tomato”, American Shaun White. This guy gets it, in terms of being a star, and yet seeming to be a down to earth individual.Of course, I’ve never met him, so I’m just going on impressions from observing him on television. I tuned in to watch him perform on Wednesday night’s halfpipe final. I had learned from a TSN telecast hosted by Brian Williams, that White had his own personal halfpipe facility somewhere in Colorado. No one else knows where it is, and he is flown in by helicopter. In the first run of the halfpipe finals, White was at least 5 feet higher in the air, on his board, than any other competitor. In fact, an NBC graphic illustrated his maximum height from his first run, and it was 25 feet above the top of the halfpipe. The dual video showed him to be completely over the head of the next best competitor, medal contender Iouri Podladtchikov, or the “ I-Pod” as he is more commonly known.
White began his stardom as a skateboarder, and was noticed early on by that sport’s most recognized and respected name, Tony Hawk. Shaun White was able to make the transition from asphalt and concrete, to snow and ice. White is already a superstar, and projects a fun loving enthusiasm for his sport.On his second run ,after learning he had already clinched the gold medal, and consulting with his coach, Mike Jankowski, they decided to put on a show, have some fun, and leave the fans gasping, as White went for it all and executed his “double cork”, which is more than just two full rotations. White had referred to it as the “Double McTwist 1260”, but now wants it to be known as the “Tomahawk”, named after a huge steak he consumed at the Winter X Games in Aspen. On NBC’s “Today Show”, “The Flying Tomato” described his entertaining second run in the final, and the graphic illustration on the screen, showed that it actually was a 1080 degree rotation , from start to finish. It takes some courage to go for a potentially dangerous routine, after the gold medal has already been clinched. One of White’s main rivals, Kevin Pearce, suffered a head injury while practicing the double cork, and is now recuperating in a hospital in Colorado. Yet another friend and halfpipe rival, Danny Davis, inspired by Pearce’s accident, dedicated efforts towards, and was successful in becoming the first rider to try three double corks in the same run. Shaun White knew he had to do better. On Wednesday night, his hard work paid off once again, with the gold medal clinched on the first of two runs. He now has back to back Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe. White is so exceptional in his ability, that you would have to describe him as being worth the price of admission by himself,and that’s very appropriate, for the snowboarding superstar,who is now an even higher “Flying Tomato”.