Shaun White was poised, Danny Davis was a wildcard and Greg Bretz was the underdog, but for the first time since Nagano, the U.S. failed to podium in the halfpipe.
The stage was set. Shaun White ready to podium in his third straight Olympics in halfpipe, while lesser-known United States cohorts Greg Bretz and Danny Davis looked to surprise the world.
Sadly, on Tuesday morning, all three were left disappointed and their Sochi dreams shattered.
White spent the last several months training – and battling a number of injuries – in the hopes of defending his gold medal in the event and even withdrew from the snowboarding slopestyle competition because of a wrist injury, focusing all of his time to halfpipe. But it certainly didn’t show early on for the 27-year-old, falling in his first run, which put him in second-to-last place.
Thankfully for White, the event features two runs and the better of the two scores is used to determine the medal standings. His second run was, pardon the pun, a complete 180, scoring a pretty good score of 90.25 – though in the end it left him off of the podium. Instead, it was Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov who took home the gold, thanks to a score of 94.75. The boarder nicknamed “I-Pod” took home the win thanks to his patented 1440-degree whirling jump named the “YOLO” jump. It marked the first time White was bested by a snowboarder from a country other than his own.
“It really felt like there was no fighting at all,” Podladtchikov admitted. “It felt like it was all meant to be. It’s really weird.”
The competition could have very well marked the beginning of a new era, as 15-year-old Ayumu Hirano from Japan took home the silver medal, while his teammate, Taku Hiraoka, took home the bronze. It was the first time since the Nagano Games in 1998 that there were no Americans on the podium. Even more disappointed than White, were his fellow countrymen in the event.
For Davis, competing in the Olympics had been a long time coming. The 2014 X Games Aspen SuperPipe gold medalist was on the verge of making the Vancouver Games four years ago when a bizarre ATV accident left him injured and unable to compete. But this time he got his chance, and many, including us, believed he was a wildcard of the event – with the potential to take home silver, or even gold.
The 26-year-old fell on both runs, scoring a 53.00 and a 45.25, which at the end of the day, put him in 10th place. Davis, who came out and criticized the halfpipe course earlier in the week, admitted after the event that he was disappointed and felt as though he let his country down.
“We let America down,” Davis said. “Sorry, America.”
Davis was, however, able to take away some positives from the event, an experience that was surely amazing, despite the outcome. He was also was happy that the world got to see just how good its snowboarders are – even the ones not named Shaun White.
“The American public and the world now knows that there are other snowboarders besides Shaun White,” Davis added. “I mean, Shaun is, don’t get me wrong, one of the most talented, one of the best riders there is, but there are guys who are just as good, and if not better.”
Finishing in dead-last was the guy who took down White late last year at Dew Tour Mountain Championships, Greg Bretz. The 23-year-old finished with a 26.50, a score no one could’ve expected. He might not have been medal contender, but finishing that low was certainly unexpected.
From here, all three athletes will watch the remainder of the games, finished with competition, before making the trip back home. There was plenty to take from the event but they’ll likely put it behind them and focus on what’s next as there’s still plenty of competitions this winter.
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
