Shaun White busts out his new trick, the 'Double McTwist 1260,' to take Olympic gold in Vancouver,
February 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Shaun White busts out 'Double McTwist 1260,' takes Olympic gold - Not that he needed it, but in a victory run down the men's half-pipe, snowboader Shaun White bust out his new trick, the "Double McTwist 1260," anyway just to please his fans at the Vancouver Olympic Games Wednesday night. Already scoring enough points on his first run to place him at the top of the podium, fans and NBC commentators alike wondered if he would attempt the new move in his second run down the pipe.
After scoring 45.8 points on his first run, Mr. White did not need to toss in a new trick to impress the judges. In a second run that ended up a bit on the slow side toward the end, the snowboarder threw it in anyway. The move involves two off-axis backflips and 3.5 rotations. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr. White has come close to risking his life before in practicing the move. At the X Games in January, he hit his head so hard it knocked off his helmet and sent it flying into the air, and he has admitted himself to being "scared" when he does the trick.
This is Shaun White's second gold medal; he won his first in men's halfpipe in 2006 at Torino, Italy.
Asked why he would attempt the Double McTwist 1260 when he didn't need it to win the gold medal, the 23-year-old replied,"I just felt like I didn't come all the way to Vancouver not to pull out the big guns. I put down the tricks I've worked so hard on."
Asked about the danger in snowboarding and its increasingly higher risk tricks, Mr. White said, "With any sport I feel that there's risks. Even driving. You can risk accidents in any situation in life. I don't think about it too much when I'm riding. Obviously, you have to have so much confidence to do this stuff anyway. I just want everybody out there to know that what we're doing here is a just side product of snowboarding. You go up with your friends; you ride; you have fun, and that's what it's all about. This is us progressing and showing the rest of the world what we can do and seeing what's possible."
See Shaun White's Olympic performance here. (The second run starts at about 3:40 in on the video).
The Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada go through February 28, 2010.
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Connie Ann Kirk is a published author of 10 books. She is currently working on a novel and a screenplay. See all of Connie's Arts & Entertainment columns at these pages: National Books on Film Examiner , National Literature Examiner, and National Young Adult Pop Culture Examiner . Feel free any time to also check out her website.
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Comments
The risk is involved in these high level tricks is getting higher and higher but the athletes are finding ways of making sure they are as prepared as they can be before laying it down on snow or where ever they practice their sport. Take a look how we practice at Naka Athletics on the tramp before hitting the slopes.
Fun and as safe as it can get
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