Shaun White achieved perfection in his final run on the Snowboard SuperPipe during the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. For the first time in the history of Snowboard SuperPipe, the judges determined that White’s run was worthy of a score of 100. White already had the event won with his totals during the first two rounds, so he decided to put on a show for what was called his “victory run.”
White put the pedal to the metal and let the world know that he is still without a doubt the king of snowboarding. White’s closest competition, Iouri Podladtchiko was expected to put the pressure on White by landing his secret weapon.
While training in New Zealand Podladtchiko landed a move called the Switch Backside 1260 with the 1260 representing 3 1/2 rotations. Had Podladtchiko landed the Switch Backside 1260 in his final run then maybe he would have topped the 94 that White scored in his first run. In an interview Podladtchikov said that his goal was to land the Switch Backside 1260 during his run, but he said that he just wasn’t comfortable enough with his landings in Aspen to pull the trigger on the difficult move. Podladtchikov scored a 93 on his last run guaranteeing White his fifth gold medal in the X Games SuperPipe event.
Going into his final run White already knew that he had the gold, but he wanted to please the crowd. White put a monster combo together that included a series of nearly impossible moves. His combo included a Double Mctwist 1260. The Double Mctwist 1260 is a move that only two people in the world have landed, White and Podladtchikov. The final trick in White’s combo was a Front Side Double Cork 1260. The Front Side Double Cork 1260 has never been landed in competition before White mastered the move in his final run. It was a historic trick to finish out a historic night in Winter X history.
What makes White’s run even more remarkable is that he did it on a sore ankle. White had to skip Slope style earlier in the week and was questionable for the SuperPipe event. Even on two good ankles Shaun White’s previous highest scoring run in SuperPipe competition was a 97.66. When asked about his perfect run, Shaun White said that he had always dreamed of maybe possibly one day getting a perfect 100, he added that “tonight was the night”. When asked what the perfect score means to him, White said “It means that I have been to X Games many times, but I will forever remember this.”