Podladtchikov Steals "Salvaged" Halfpipe Show

Moscow-born Iouri Podladtchikov was the star of the night as snowboard legend Shaun White faltered in his bid to make history and win a third consecutivehalfpipe gold medal.

Podladtchkov, who competed for his native Russia at the 2006 Torino Games, executed a stellar second run, with hissignature "YOLO" flip as part of the repertoire. His score of 94.75 earned him gold.

"I’m about to faint, I haven’t seen the gold medal yet and I don’t believe it," Podladtchikov said after victory.

"It’s insane to be here tonight and to be speaking Russian; it’s my mother language," said the 25-year-old Poladtchikov, who moved to Switzerland with his father at the age of eight, becoming a citizen in 2007.

"It reminds me of my childhood. It’s really beautiful."

White was off his game, failing to land multiple tricks during his two runs and could only salvage a fourth place result.

"I definitely had one of those nights," said the 27-year-old White. "It’s a bummer. I had a gameplan, I had a specific run I wanted to land. I didn’t get to put that down so that’s frustrating to me.

"I don’t think tonight makes or breaks my career," said White, who opted to skip Saturday’s slopestyle competition, not wanting to risk injury, in order to focus on halfpipe.

White, was gracious in defeat to the Swiss champion.

"I’m happy for Iouri," he said. "He’s a really great guy, always smiling, and he deserves a win like this."

"Being an Olympian is nothing to scoff at. I’m proud to be an Olympian and represent the U.S. I had a tough night," White said.

Mild temperatures this week resulted in slushy and deteriorating conditions in the 190-meter long halfpipe with its nearly seven-meter high walls. Followingpractice sessions on Monday, some snowboarders doubted if a worthy competition could be held.

A herculean effort on Tuesday morning by the International Ski Federation snowboard crew, including assistance from their alpine team, allowed thenighttime competition to go off without a hitch. Ultimately, riders were mostly satisfied with the conditions of the pipe and fairness of the competition.

However, many riders had difficulty navigating the tricky conditions which some said described as "icy on top, but too soft below," and the event saw eight of the twelve riders in finals either crash or fail to stick landings.

"Thehalfpipe had some issues, thankfully they pulled it off and make a great pipe for tonight," White said. "It was still rough around the edges, but it wasnight and day from what it was."

FIS communications manager Jenny Wiedeke said of the effort: "They salted and watered (the pipe) after we called in help from the alpine team. It was a matter of firming up the snow".

"We used something similar to an infield sprinkler in baseball because we don’t want the pressure of the water to leave indents in the snow," she said.

Like White, Podladchikov offered praise to the FIS crew for saving the competition.

"To be honest with you. I was not thinking it would not work," Podladtchikov said. "I heard they were going to bring in some expertise and it’s usually notreally possible in one day and they made it happen."

"I’m very happy it worked for FIS, for the contest and for the sake of snowboarding because there really was some amazing riding to see and this isthe biggest stage for us."

Written by Brian Pinelli

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