Shaun White had a fantastic showing in qualifying for the men’s halfpipe at the Olympics on Tuesday, and a slight tweak helps to explain part of the reason for his success.
White had a score of 98.50, which placed him first in qualifying. Though he is known for achieving crazy heights of around 18 feet above the half pipe, he seemed to be catching some crazy air during qualifying. He said that was no coincidence.
“Before I dropped in, my wax guy’s like, ‘I’m gonna put a little something extra on your board, see if it runs faster. Test it for tomorrow. Well, Kenny, it’s a lot faster. I was going with some speed in that run. I’m really happy,” White said in an interview with NBC’s Tina Dixon.
White enters the halfpipe finals as the leader. Australia’s Scotty James was second in qualifying with a score of 96.75, while Japan’s Ayumu Hirano was third. White is looking to reclaim gold in the halfpipe after finishing fourth at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
