He’s back.
Shaun White righted his golden ship in the Pepsi Center’s halfpipe Saturday, throwing a spinning 720 to regain his top-podium splendor after a crushing 20th-place finish last month in the first stop of the five-city Dew Action Sports Tour.
“Man, I’m feeling a lot better than the last event I went to. I’m just tripped out because I wanted to come here and do the best I could,” said White, 19, who spun his way to Olympic glory in Italy’s halfpipe last winter, capping a spectacular two-season snowboard and skateboard cruise of nothing but golden seas. “I definitely could have done better…but winning this event is a trip for me. I’m so fired up for the next event.”
Saturday’s skateboard halfpipe finals at the Dew Tour featured lots of falls. All but one of the 12 finalists – including White – bailed during their second runs. Half of the competitors fell in the first run.
Most of the falls were on relatively simple tricks that hardened veterans such as Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek have nailed countless times.
“It’s so hard to stay on,” White said. “We are all from California – the beach, warm weather. We come here and it’s not that humid and you come into cold air conditioning and it’s just hard to stay on your board. I was lucky enough to get my run down on the first one and then go for it for the second. I think all those falls just mean that some of the other guys and myself need to train harder.”
The flame-haired phenom rocketed to icon status after a second run over the halfpipe in the Winter Olympics in Turin last February. The gold medal capped an undefeated snowboarding season and a first-place finish in his professional skateboarding debut in last year’s Dew Tour.
After the Olympics, White absorbed the spotlight. Media stuff. Cover of Rolling Stone. A-list parties with Hollywood starlets. He relished the life of boarding royalty.
He didn’t get back on the skateboard for nine months – a long hiatus in a sport filled with young grommets and grizzled veterans forging new tricks almost daily. A week off can leave most a step back. Several months off almost left White out of the running.
He had to relearn tricks he had once mastered. At the local park he helped build in his hometown of Carlsbad, Calif., he rolled his ankle and smashed his collarbone working his 720.
The way White tells it, he goes to the doctor with his collarbone “sticking out a little bit” and asks the doctor how it looks.
“He’s like, ‘You know what? If I could just snap this photo with you that would be awesome.’ ”
White’s appeal was apparent at the Pepsi Center, as the largely adolescent crowd screeched its approval every time White took the ramp.
White tasted defeat for the first time in two years last month at the tour stop in Louisville, Ky. His 720 was shaky. He fell. He went back to his home park and dedicated himself like he did as a preteen aspiring pro whose astonishing skills earned him the nickname “Future Boy.”
His work paid off. In Denver, those floating two rotations while gripping his board high above the vertical walls of the 18-foot monster pipe delivered a score of 89.75 and a familiar gold. It wasn’t his best ride ever. But it was enough to win.
White prides himself on his ability to shine when the pressure is heaviest. That skill didn’t deliver any distinct advantage Saturday.
“We are all competitors. I’m a pro skater and snowboarder, but these guys do comps all the time,” White said. “If anything, I would guess those guys have the advantage over me.”
Sandro Dias of Brazil, with his fluid 540 body jars – slapping the board’s tail on the ramp rail while landing a 540 – was close behind with a score of 89.25. Baltimore skate veteran Lasek took third with 87 points.
White is happy with the win, but the second-run fall – a rare bobble by the king of consistency – bothers him.
“It’s so annoying. I really wanted to land that,” he said, his grin fading into all business. “I think it’s because I put so much focus on the 720. Maybe that’s why. Like, I was ‘Here it comes. Go!’ That was a big mess-up.”
Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-820-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
