Carson, Calif. – The Tomato has never flown quite like this.
Shaun White, the biggest celebrity at the X Games, won on the event’s biggest stage Sunday by putting together a soaring, powerful final run that brought him his first gold in men’s skateboard vert.
The 20-year-old White, known as “The Flying Tomato” because of his bright red hair, had won six Winter X Games gold medals and an Olympic gold in Turin last year. He finally captured the summer gold that had eluded him.
“This means the world to me,” White said while choking back tears after his run. “I’ve always wanted to be a skateboarder.”
White had fallen on each of his first two runs and needed a flawless final. He strung together a high-flying combination of McTwists, 720s and frontside 540s that had the crowd whooping.
His score of 95.75 shot him past leader Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who took silver after posting a 91.25 on the second of three runs.
Defending champion Sandro Dias had a chance to top White, but fell halfway through an aggressive final run.
Tanner Foust of Steamboat Springs won the rally car gold, beating Ken Block in the final.
“This is the highlight of my career,” Foust said. “I’ve been doing the racing thing for about 10 years and nothing even comes close to something like this.”
Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis won despite driving in the final without rear brakes, which had broken in the semifinal round.
