Shaun White Vancouver 2010 Video Snowboarding's Best Viral Hit

Shaun White's Vancouver 2010 video has been viral for days and may be the most downloaded video from the Olympic Games so far. Snowboarding fans, as well as some new ones, have been raving over this gold medal winning performance since Wednesday night. It has made the snowboarding legend one of the Games' biggest stars, and brought new attention to his board. However, the Shaun White Vancouver 2010 video isn't the only way that snowboarding has spread online - but it is the least embarrassing.

In this first full week of Olympic competition, America's biggest stars have broken out. But while Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno have made their usual headlines, Shaun White has broken out into the Olympic pantheon. He won his second straight half-pipe gold on Wednesday, and barely broke a sweat to do it.

The best part of White's Vancouver 2010 video came at the end, well after he sealed up the gold medal. But he ended things with a bang by performing his signature Double McTwist 1260. His victory lap became one of the signature moments of the games, and one of the most downloaded.

Snowboarding has broken out in the Winter Olympics this year, thanks in part to the Shaun White Vancouver 2010 video. But the sport is experiencing the good and the bad side of Internet stardom, thanks to bronze medalist Scotty Lago. His photo controversy over his use of the bronze medal represents the bad side so far.

Lago had to leave Vancouver because of the racy pictures, putting a bad light on snowboarding - or at least giving the Olympics and the press a chance to put it in a bad light. Even White's run was not without controversy, since his coach was caught cursing by NBC cameras after the performance.

The best and worst of snowboarding has been put on display at the Winter Olympics 2010. However the worst only involves the athletes' behavior off the course, and fans and supporters are more inclined to forgive that. On the course, snowboarding has become an audience favorite, with the Shaun White Vancouver 2010 video as the best example.

White's performance has shown how the sport can take off as an Olympic staple. However, Lago's photo controversy shows how vulnerable it still is to backlash, and to a bad reputation. It still remains to be seen whether Lago's pictures, or White's gold, is the lasting memory of snowboarding from the 2010 games.

Yet given how the Shaun White Vancouver 2010 video was the viral hit of the games, before Lago came about, gold may trump the biting of a bronze in the end. At least, that's what snowboarding fans and officials hope to see.

Sources

Gather.com- "Shaun White Vancouver 2010 video: A victory lap to last a lifetime"

CNM News Network- "Shaun White Olympics 2010 Video: Amazing Boarding Moves"