Shaun White Lands All-or-Nothing Run to Qualify for Halfpipe Final in Fifth Olympics

Shaun White will have one last chance at an Olympic medal, but he didn't take the easy route. 

The snowboarding legend fell on his opening run, leaving him with nearly an hour wait before his do-or-die last shot at the halfpipe final. Not only did White ace his final test, but he threw down a bigger run than he needed, finishing fourth in the qualifying event. 

Next up for White: Thursday's final, and maybe a deep breath. 

Sign up for Sports Illustrated's free, daily Olympics newsletter

“The Olympics, it doesn't get any bigger,“ White said during the NBC broadcast. “I was feeling that first run. Everything was clicking and I think I just took that little lapsed approach to that last hit and, next thing I know, I was sliding on my back, thinking, ’What happened?‘

“The way they've been running today, my next run would [have been] around an hour from then, so I had a lot of time to kill. A lot of thoughts go through my head, a lot of pressure. So I am just so happy that I put that last run down. I'm feeling incredible. You gotta fight for it if you want to get in the finals, and I did.“ 

Although he missed out on the podium in 2014, White has won gold in three of his previous four Olympics starting with the '06 Turin Games. But at 35 years old, White is not considered a favorite in what he said would be his final competition.

Still, as the most decorated athlete in halfpipe history, White is looking to give the snowboarding world quite the grand finale on Thursday. 

Sign up for our free daily Olympics newsletter: SI Olympic Daily. You'll unlock access to a daily rundown of the top stories from SI’s reporters on the ground in Beijing.