It’s not often that Shaun White fails to qualify for a halfpipe final, but that’s just what happened in his first contest of the season at the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo., on Wednesday.
The two-time Olympic champion finished 18th overall in qualifying with scores of 65.50 and 7.50 in his two runs. White lacked his typical speed and amplitude but didn’t crash, an event spokesman said.
White has finished fourth or better in just about all of his contests since 2002, when he just missed making the Salt Lake City Olympic team at age 15.