Patriotism Soars, Then Crashes After Shaun White’s Unlikely Gold Medal

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For the first time in 8 years, Shaun White was crowned with a gold medal at the Winter Olympics thanks to an insane 97.75 run to close out the men’s halfpipe.

Even writing that feels weird since White is the pre-eminent snowboarder of our (or any, really) generation.

He was the guy for my generation in the Winter Olympics since he burst onto the scene onto the scene in 2006 in Turin and captured the gold medal.

He was a kid with long, flaming red hair.

He felt totally different than everyone else in it.

And he rode like it, too.

With all of the expectations in the world on his shoulders, he did the same damn thing in 2010 in Vancouver, solidifying his position as an American icon.

Then, in 2014, when he was on top of the world, this happened in Sochi as he went for the three-peat.

There was this national gasp, as if everyone in the world felt he was going to pull it off in the end… then he didn’t.

It was like watching Michael Phelps lose the 200m butterfly. It just didn’t happen.

With another four years between then and his chance for redemption, you just felt like it was over for him.

In 2017, sexual harassment allegations came out about White, and it felt like another fall of another icon. (It should be noted that a settlement was reached in the case.)

Then in October, Shaun had a gruesome wreck training that required 62 stitches.

https://www.snowboarder.com/videos/shaun-white-crash-video-62-stitches-needed-fall-new-zealand/

We all knew he was competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, but other than a few devout holdovers from his glory days, it seemed few really believed he could reach his old form

That changed when he scored a 98 in the trials.

Just like that, the hype was back on.

It amplified tremendously when he scored a 94.25 on his first run.

But just as quickly as everyone got excited, it went away when Japan’s Ayumu Hirano nailed a 95.25.

On White’s second run, he wrecked.

With Hirano leading the pack with a seemingly insurmountable 95.25, White went for what may be his last Olympic ride, and he did this:

I don’t know what virtually any of that shit was, but I knew he won it as soon as I saw it.

You know when you’ve seen greatness.

That’s how you know he’s a special, special athlete. He drew me in, a guy who knows nothing about snowboarding, and had me on my feet and screaming in my bedroom at 9 p.m

I wasn’t the only one.

https://twitter.com/NEPD_Loyko/status/963610568690151427

Since he’s back in the limelight, a backlash about last year’s allegations will soon be sweeping over him like a tidal wave.

But for that night, the Flying Tomato was once again an American hero.

…Or so we thought.

Another controversy was born in his afterglow.

While being draped with the American flag after the win, Shaun White allowed the flag to drag on the ground and even stepped on it at some point.

SHOCK AND AWE!

No one eats their own like Americans, it seems, and that’s a damn shame.

In the press conference, Shaun White addressed the moment:

I remember being handed the flag, but I was trying to put my gloves on and hold the flag and get the board. So honestly, if there was anything, I definitely didn’t mean any disrespect. The flag that’s flying on my house right now is way up there. So sorry for that. But I’m definitely proud, very proud, to be a part of Team USA and being American and to be representing for everyone back home.

Look, no one wants to see the flag dragging on the ground, but this wasn’t some intentional act of defiance. There was no malice here. It was a simple accident in a moment of elation that could’ve happened to any of us if we were talented enough to be in that position.

There are very real reasons to be critical of Shaun White, particularly the aforementioned allegations, but when he forgoes his own safety to win a medal for the country, maybe it is okay if we forgive a momentary lapse in judgement.