If you don’t think Shaun White is the best halfpipe snowboarder the world has ever seen, you’re wrong. Yesterday, Shaun dominated the superpipe competition and after winning, during his victory lap, he scored a perfect 100. It was a disgustingly sick run and that was the first perfect 100 score ever recorded.
Should it have been scored a perfect 100? Or was it kind of a publicity stunt by the X games to give him 100?
“It’s unreal. I’ve been wanting that 100 forever. Thank you so much, everybody, tonight. I came here on a mission: I couldn’t compete in Slope and it kind of broke me. I didn’t know what to do. I was sitting around icing my ankle wondering if I could even ride tonight, and I kind of took out a little bit of that anxiety and anger that I couldn’t compete in Slope in the pipe tonight.” – Shaun White
Shaun’s Perfect 100 Run:
- Furthest out of the pipe = 18 feet 1 inch
- Average out of the pipe = 14 feet 6 inches
- Front side double cork 1260 (no one else on Earth but Shaun does this) thrown
- Tricks thrown in order: obnoxiously large 18-foot backside air, fronstside double cork 1080, Cab double cork 1080, a frontside stalefish 540, double McTwist 1260, frontside double cork 1260.
- False snakeskin pants worn (no one else on Earth but Shaun does this)
This was Shaun’s 5th X games superpipe gold medal in a row. In his first run, Shaun sealed in the gold medal with a 94.00 score beating out Helvetia’s Iouri Podladtchiko ( iPod) who scored an impressive 93.00. On Shaun’s second run, he fell trying his new trick, the frontside double cork 1260, and got a low score.
This left Shaun and iPod within one point of each other, which would have naturally caused a lot of controversy about the judging. Instead of taking a mellow victory lap, (which he very well could have) he dropped in hot, went off, scored a perfect 100, and left no one wondering who was the best that day.
For the record, we are very okay with Shaun scoring a perfect 100 on this run…and his sweet snakeskin pants.
SHAUN WHITE and METAL:
- 2 time Olympic gold medalist in snowboard halfpipe
- 5 Superpipe gold medals in a row
- 17 Winter X Games medals
- 12 Winter X Games gold medals
- 5 Summer X Games medals in skateboarding
- 2 Summer X Games gold medals including a gold at the Skateboard Vert this past July
- Shaun will be competing for more metal in the Sochi 2014 Olympics in Halpipe and Slopestyle
Don’t think it was poor judging. especially pulling of the new trick on the last hit. the guy is a robot.
Wonder if the judges missed his hand touching the walls of the pipe.
I don’t think it was poor judging, rather irresponsible judging. What did the second place guy score, a 93 something. Giving a perfect score leaves no place to go.
well the judging is relative… if he throws the same run next year it wont be a 100. its a 100 because its the best possible run anyone could throw in this day and age.
And what if he got 18.5 ft out? Would that make it a 102?
Perfect scores should never be attainable. It caps progression for the contest and looks silly the following year.
Just another attempt to get higher ratings and make snowboarding more mainstream while losing validity and integrety for properly assessing performance in a half-pipe.
Not hating on White (I usually do), but that run was stupid crazy.
Just disappointed with the judging.
Now those pants…. I’m not even going to start.
the pants are completely ridiculous but i think it was rad..more along the lines of perfect 10s in surfing, they are very rare often none between several contests but then the conditions are right, and if all the other athletes didnt come anywhere near the level of the 10 in surfing in question (or the 100 for shaun) i think it should stand as legit. the conditions, contestants, progression, everything will be different next year and should be accounted for as so…just an opinion not an attack or anything..curious to hear peoples side
I feel like he only got the perfect 100 because he’s Shawn freaking White. Hand drag on the wall, didn’t look so great. Obviously not a absolutely PERFECT run. Thats deffinitly stupid.
The handdrag on the final wall was obvious. Cannot have a perfect run, definitely a 96-98 but no way 100.
on a trick that nobody else has ever done preceded by another trick that nobody has ever done before or is eve trying…
i figured he would get a 96-98 tops for that run, when i heard he got a 100 i was kind of confused, it didn’t seem like a 100 run to me; but if you ask every competitor there to try and do the exact run he did i dont think anyone could even come close so… kudos to shaun. im excited to see if he goes to the supernatural event to see what slopestyle tricks he’s been working on since he didnt get to showcase it at the xgames, stoked!
skiers arent allowed to do straight airs and 5s for a win, how the fuck can shaun white get 100 for it? are they just admitting that snowboarding pipe is never going to catch up to skiing? and the hand drag… pretty bullshit if you ask me.
1st place skier did a 5
I think he said straight air AND 5′s.
it was the sickest and biggest 5 of the whole halfpipe contest though..come on
definitely not a perfect run, but what is perfect? I agree that perfect shouldn’t be possible. It was only because he had already won and because he’s Shaun White. And on top of everything, those pants piss me off.
There is a clear reason why Shaun keeps winning x games golds. He is responsible for more revenue creation than probably any other winter athlete in history. He is arguably the only snow sports athlete to be able to effectively market non-snowboard products to non-snowboard people. (Chewing Gun? HP laptops, who the fuck buys a computer based on Shaun Whites recommendation? really)
Let’s keep in mind that the x games is a business, 100% owned by a TV company. There is no sanctioning body or international oversight. The x games is merely an event for business to show case their gear and their riders. Millions and millions of dollars are riding on the fact that Shaun stays as the premier pipe athlete. Don’t get me wrong, he’s amazing, but the cards are always stacked in his favor, Who else gets a private pipe every year?
The whole system is rigged, if FIFA, olympic skating, european hockey, college basketball, college football can all suffer from bribery and match fixing. You better believe the X games is. Let’s see, sponsors pay the organizers, whom are responsible for selecting the competitors, venue, the pipe builder(who happens to cut Shaun’s private pipe), the rules for the event, and judges. Not to mention there is zero transparency as to how these runs are really scored.
shaun isn’t winning medals because he creates revenue. he is winning because he is better than everyone else
The fact that we’re all commenting on a hand drag like this is some sort of sport of pretentious precision makes cringe. It’s snowboarding… it’s a bunch of shit-for-brains on stupid boards that like to ride snow. And I’m one, so I say that with love.
My opinion of Shawn doesn’t matter, and personally I really couldn’t give a shit if he rode naked with poop on his face. But that run was a victory lap… he had no reason to go all out except his love to ride. I respect that. Who give a fukk about the score.
Stoked to see someone throwing methods. so sick of hearing the word double cork.
‘Perfect’ should totally be attainable, because it’s not really about ‘perfection’, but about the number of points scored. It’s just a matter of ‘X’ number of points scored – ‘X’ number of deductions = end score, right? Do those points add up to 100? Yes or no. But seriously… hand touch? I’m with everyone else on that… if he didn’t touch, what’d they have given him? 101? Surely there *should* have been a deduction for that. And for anyone other than Shaun White, I wonder if there would’ve been. I *DO* get what people mean, though. Where can you go from 100? But we do have point systems for a reason.
At the end of the day, he scored more points for the things he *DID* do right (which was a fuckload of awesome) than the points he would’ve lost for the things he didn’t.
I don’t think it’s gonna be embarrassing next year, because, like Tit Dirt says above: ” the judging is relative… if he throws the same run next year it wont be a 100. its a 100 because its the best possible run anyone could throw in this day and age.”
I’m conflicted about the score, but at the end of the day? It was a beautiful thing to watch. Has anyone ever made a run that good before? Hell no.
they should do instant replay with super imposed image like the nfl for the hand drag. I think it was close but he pulled his hand away quick before it touched.
You lose a time out because I slow mowed it and he touched and I am the final arbiter.
The reason Shaun wins is because he’s good and no one can dispute his talent. The hand drag, although a bit controversial, was ignored because of the trick he pulled out prior to the hand drag. Pulling out two tricks that no one has even attempted to land other than him was gutsy and qualified White for the score he received. If anyone else pulled out the run he did, no one would be paying attention to a hand. Anyone mad about the score not only shouldn’t be mad at Shaun, but he or she either doesn’t seem to know all the facts, or is avoiding the honest truth…Shaun White is the best in superpipe history! He goes bigger and harder than anyone else in the pipe has ever gone and might ever go. It’s a Fact NOT an opinion!!!