Shaun White All But Wraps Up Spot In His 5th Olympics
Jan 13, 2022, 9:55 AM
Shaun White of Team United States takes a training run for the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe competition at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain on January 05, 2022 in Mammoth, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LAAX, Switzerland (AP) — Shaun White all but wrapped up a spot in his fifth Olympics on Thursday when he qualified for the finals of a contest in Switzerland and his nearest American pursuer failed to move on.
White finished fifth in the qualifying round, while Chase Blackwell failed to make it to Saturday’s 12-man final.
It means White, who came into the event as the fourth-ranked American in the World Snowboard Points List, cannot fall further down in that ranking, while Blackwell cannot move up.
OLYMPIC UPDATE!! pic.twitter.com/Ai0igK9voJ
— Shaun White (@shaunwhite) January 6, 2022
The U.S. has four spots on the men’s halfpipe team and is expected to use those rankings to fill out the last three spots.
Taylor Gold has already secured a spot with a podium finish at a qualifying event in Colorado last month.
