4th place can’t spoil White’s Olympic goodbye: ‘I’m not sad’

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — In Shaun White’s farewell performance, Ayumu Hirano of Japan won an elusive Olympic gold in the halfpipe with a boundary-pushing final run. Hirano’s last run featured what is now the new gold standard of halfpipe riding, the triple cork, which is three head-over-heels flips that was once thought impossible. His score of 96 reflected that. The two-time Olympic silver medalist moved past Scotty James of Australia, whose top score was 92.50 in the three-run final. Jan Scherrer of Switzerland took bronze. White finished in fourth place. He fell on the final run of a career that’s seen the American star win three Olympic titles.