Shaun White Wins Olympic Gold Medal in Men's Snowboard Halfpipe, Scott Lago Wins Bronze

Shaun White won the gold medal in the men's Olympic snowboard halfpipe. Four Americans made the finals, but White won the gold medal he was expected to take home in what is considered his best event. Four Americans made it to the final round of 12 men that participated in the Olympic snowboard halfpipe on Wednesday night, and it set up the possibility that the United States could sweep the medals with a great all-around showing.

Shaun White, Scott Lago, Louie Vito, and Gregory Bretz were the four U.S. men that took to the snow and ice to try for gold in this event.

In the first round of the Olympic men's snowboard halfpipe finals, Lago posted a 42.8 score to take an early lead, and when Vito went eighth, he posted a score of 39.1 that was good enough for third place. Shaun White was the last snowboarder to take the course in the first round, and he posted a mammoth score of 46.8 to take the overall lead.

Scores Through Round One of Finals

1. Shaun White (USA) -- 46.8
2. Scott Lago (USA) -- 42.8
3. Louri Podladtchikov (Swiss) -- 42.4
4. Peetu Piironien (Finland) -- 40.8
5. Louie Vito (USA) -- 39.1
6. Markku Koski (Finland) -- 36.4

One of the problems for everyone else after the first run was that they tried too hard on their second jumps to catch up, and it ended up resulting in some very ugly scores for snowboarders that had bad scores in the first round. In the event finals, everyone gets two chances, and the best score is the one that counts. It meant everyone was gunning for Shaun White's round one score when they took to the pipe in their round two turns, and a 46.8 (White's score) is not easy for anyone other than White to duplicate out there. They also went in reverse order, so it meant the bottom nine had nothing to lose by throwing their biggest tricks.

When Peetu Piiroinen of Finland went 9th in the final round, he busted out a score of 45.0 to push himself into second place in the standings. It meant that American Scott Lago would need a really good score on his run to overtake Peetu, or that he would have to settle for the bronze medal. Lago was unable to do it, but still ended up finishing third in the event. It also meant that Shaun White wouldn't even need to take to the course, because he knew he had already won the gold medal as soon as Lago was finished on the course. He did go out again though, and whipped out an even bigger score (48.4) than in round one.

In another great event for the United States Olympics team, White won the gold medal and Lago won the bronze medal.

Final Olympic Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Standings

1. Shaun White (USA) -- 48.4
2. Peetu Piironien (Finland) -- 45.0
3. Scott Lago (USA) -- 42.8
4. Louri Podladtchikov (Swiss) -- 42.4

References:

Olympic Medal Counts

Schedule of Events

Halfpipe Scores