Snowboard SuperPipe Men's Final Release

One for the Ages

White Wins First Ever Back-to-Back Snowboard SuperPipe Gold

Aspen, Colo. – Drama and suspense filled the final competition of Winter X Games 13.  After falling on his first two runs, Shaun White needed a huge final run to capture the gold.  

And like the true performer he is, White did exactly what he needed to do, grabbing his second-consecutive gold medal in Snowboard SuperPipe Men’s – becoming the first man or woman to do so in the 13 years of the Winter X Games.

“I was feeling cursed,” a jubilant White said. “I didn’t think I needed three runs to get it done. I knew I had the run in me; I just had to put it down. I can’t believe I won it again, back-to-back gold medals are amazing.”  

The winning run included his signature back side rodeo, a back side 900, a front side 1080 into a back side 1080, a front side 900 and a McTwist giving White a score of 91.66 to nudge past Kevin Pearce’s 90.66.

“It was tough having to sit at the bottom of the mountain and watch Shaun take the final run,” the silver medalist Pearce said. “I know he always throws it down in the end.  It is not a position I want to be in ever again.”

The victory was a bit of redemption for White, who was defeated by Pearce earlier this month at the European Open, in Laax, Switzerland. 

Finland’s Antti Autti, who won the event in 2005, scored an 87.33 which was good enough for the bronze.

The Snowboard SuperPipe competition is arguably one of the most exciting competitions in the world.  The 500-foot long, 22-foot deep “U-shaped” SuperPipe is 60-feet from lip-to-lip with a pitch of 18 degrees.  The world-class pipe allows for maximum amplitude and speed, giving the riders space to perfect progressive tricks.

For Winter X Games media information, including press releases, logos and additional images from past events, log on to www.espneventmedia.com. 

WINTER X GAMES 13

The 13th annual winter action sports competition features athletes from across the globe competing for medals and prize money in the following sports: Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile. The event includes day and evening competitions and is free to the public.

ESPN and ABC will feature 15 hours of live high-definition programming Jan. 22 – Jan. 25. ESPN2 will present daily late-night highlight programs in HD from Jan. 22 – Jan. 25, resulting in eight additional hours of original HD programming for Winter X Games 13. Additionally, the Winter X Games will also be televised on ESPN’s International networks to 122 countries and territories in Latin America, the Pacific Rim, Middle East, Asia, Africa, Israel and Canada.

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Contacts: Katie Moses Swope, 310-339-4552 (cell), Katie.moses@espn.com 

Alex Rozis (Broadcast media), 415-609-0949, alex.a.rozis@espn.com 

Danny Chi, (Print Media), 310-500-5699, danny.c.chi@espn.com 

Crystal Yang (Radio Media), 310-491-6735, crystal.j.yang@espn.com