PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — Shaun White stared down the halfpipe before his final Olympic run and had no doubt what would happen next.
"I honestly knew I had it," White said. "I knew I had to put it down."
Put it down he did, soaring and spinning Wednesday through a half-dozen near flawless tricks — including back-to-back 1440s for the first time in his life — en route to his record third halfpipe gold medal.
White won with a score of 97.75 and wept at the bottom of the halfpipe. It marked White's return to the top of the sport after a disappointing fourth-place finish at the 2014 Sochi Games.