Shaun White Goes From Teary-Eyed Win to Romance

Feb. 13, 2005 — -- He dazzled the judges and the crowd with his Olympic gold-medal halfpipe run and now U.S. snowboarder Shaun White is hoping he'll catch the eye of another Olympian: figure skater Sasha Cohen.

She's a gold-medal contender in the women's figure-skating event, but may first get a Valentine. White told "Good Morning America" that he first read about his new crush in a magazine and thought he would try to meet her in Italy.

"I'm reading the article, and I was like, she'd be cool to meet … and I told some people about it, thought I could see her event or something like that," White said.

The gold medalist said now "everybody is kind of playing matchmaker," and he would "see what happens."

And he just may have a shot at that introduction if his lucky season continues.

White's winning run at the Torino Games was his ninth straight halfpipe victory this year. But despite all that experience with winning, he found himself teary-eyed during the medal ceremony when he received his first gold and stood by teammate Danny Kass, who took the silver.

"I didn't really expect all the emotions," he said. "I'm like, 'Oh, I'm not going to cry, whatever. I'm going to be a tough guy.' Basically, the family is standing there in the front row, and everybody is crying and the U.S. flag is going up the pole and they're doing the anthem."

"It just really hits you pretty heavy once you're up there. I was starting to get some tears in the eyes. It was one of those things I'll probably always remember," he said from Turin, Italy.

A Comeback and a Victory

At 19, Shaun White is already a veteran in the snowboarding community with major sponsors and a stack of X Games victories. But when he made his Olympic debut, he was initially a little shaky.

He hit the rim of the halfpipe during his first run, in an uncharacteristic slip.

"I really never get nervous at contests anymore because I've done so many," White said. "The whole Olympic thing really hit me, how major this contest is. I was so mad at myself for falling on that first run that I just flipped it around and made myself land everything after that."

And that ability is what he's known for, when careening down a 20-foot-tall sheet of ice after tossing huge jumps off the side of the wall.

"What's phenomenal about this guy is the consistency in the halfpipe. You have guys who go really big and guys who are artistic -- and he somehow combines both," Outside magazine editor John Bradley said.

White's Olympic win caps off a season that included victories at five Grand Prix events and a gold at the recent Winter X Games. During warmer weather, White trades his baggy clothes and goggles for a set of wheels to compete in the Summer X Games as a skateboarder. He's the only athlete in X Games history to perform in both seasons.

"He's a threat in both," Bradley said. "And that kind of speaks to his dominance -- that skateboarding is kind of his fallback sport and he's one of the best in the world at it."

Up, Up and Away

As U.S. riders strapped into their boards to compete in the halfpipe, they hit the snow at a particularly strong moment in the sport's history.

Sunday's Olympic contenders showcased a slew of 1080s in the halfpipe. That's three full rotations in the air, completed after they launch from the side of the structure.

"It's reached a point in its maturity that there are accepted tricks," Bradley said. "So instead of being wowed -- looking at how they're pulling it off -- this is the first Olympics where snowboarding is going to be at that level."

Contributing to that were White's halfpipe teammates, Mason Aguirre, Andy Finch and Danny Kass who now has two Olympic silver medals.

These gutsy guys typically jump 15 feet to 20 feet above the lip of the halfpipe, which means when they go for some air they're roughly 40 feet off the ground.

"What amazes me the most is that they're landing on a vertical sheet of ice … and setting up the next trick and turning when there's nothing to turn on because you're just on ice," Bradley said. "Because it's this rebel sport, there isn't the appreciation for the fitness of these guys, but you've got to be incredibly strong to land these tricks."

And at the crux of that advancement is White.

"He is so consistent and does learn tricks so fast. It's been a real catalyst for other people to step up and chase after him," said TransWorld Snowboarding senior contributing editor Jen Sherowksi.

She travels all season following the competitions and did not think White, who has been competing since he was 9, would succumb to Olympics pressure.

"He's been competing for his whole life so he kind of seizes that pressure, whereas a lot of other snowboarders crack under the pressure," Sherowski said. "It's really rare to see him fall. … He is never shaken up."

Judging Acrobatics and Some Style

Unlike the racing categories, in the halfpipe, snowboarders did not face off against the clock.

Their job was to dazzle five judges with a mix of tricks, launching off the different edges of their boards and showing some flair by altering the combinations of jumps and occasionally grabbing their board in midair.

There are no predetermined routines or required elements.

"Once you have a value on tricks … then everyone will try to do the same trick," said snowboard events organizer Greg Johnson. "Athletes come down, they can do anything they want so the judges have to be super good … and know the innovation of the tricks."

Johnson has been riding for 20 years himself, and was surprised to become a leader in the judging system. "The first contest I went to, they asked: 'Hey, since you're the old guy you should judge,'" he said. "I went home after that and started writing up rules."

That included working on the guidelines in 1998 for the first snowboarding Olympic event.

"They look at the amplitude, how high that they're going … and they're looking at the combinations of their tricks," Johnson said.

He also worked for the Winter X Games and recalls the first time he saw White ride. Too young to compete in the inaugural X Games event, the future Olympian was allowed to take a practice run through the race course.

"And he went off the largest jump that had the 40-foot gap and did this 360 that blew our minds, couldn't believe this tiny kid could do that! So he had skills," Johnson said.

Johnson recently organized the Honda Session, a freestyle event in Vail, Colo., where White took gold. Johnson said he now believed this snow and skate star was poised to truly revolutionize snowboarding.

"I have no doubt he'll be able to do 1260s, 1440s in combinations, and just blow minds," Johnson said. "He's just at the beginning of what he can do so all the accolades I'm kind of giving him, to me I hope that there's 100 percent more because he is basically just starting to tap into what he can do. In the same way that Terje Haakonsen moved the sport forward in leaps and strides, I kind of have the same expectations for Shaun."

And if he decides to hang up his board and try for a less dangerous profession, perhaps he'll consider fashion design. White has already designed Oakley sunglasses and some snowboard clothing.

"I really just get inspired by all kinds of things, other jackets I see on the mountain," White said. "I really didn't know I had a thing for the whole fashion side of it."

But he sure sounds like a pro -- White designed a jacket with his brother and was just as particular about the design as he is about his own moves on the snow.

"I went with every detail. I picked out the fabric and the colors and just the overall fit of the jacket and the buttons and everything," he said.