The 'Flying Tomato' comes up golden in halfpipe!

Second USA gold, and another expected one. After running into difficulty in the qualifying rounds today, Shaun White - aka The Flying Tomato - won the men's halfpipe in style, throwing down consecutive 1080s followed by a pair of 900s in his first run that was good enough to outlast the 11 other riders who followed him. Can't wait to see this run tonight on NBC!

Even better, 2002 halfpipe silver medalist Danny Kass defended his medal, taking silver again in Torino. Mason Aguirre of the USA finished just out of the money in 4th. Way to go, USA!

Gold - Shaun White USA
Silver - Danny Kass USA
Bronze - Markku Koski Finland
4th - Mason Aguirre USA

Meanwhile, in the men's downhill....

Stunning upset in men's Alpine skiing as none of the favorites came out on top. Instead, the gold went to France's Antoine Deneriaz. The odds-on favorite, Austrian Michael Walchhofer, took silver. Bronze went to Bruno Kernen of Switzerland. Americans Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves were 5th and 10th, respectively.

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This entry has 5 comments: (Add your own)

#5 Comment from us369r
2/14/06 7:13 PM | Permalink

BODE MILLER WILL MATURE TO BE AN AMAZING WINNER IN TIME AS LONG AS HE PERSERVERS HE WILL TURN HE NERVOUS ENERGY TO WINNING
#4 Comment from gfhonodel
2/13/06 2:33 PM | Permalink

The decision made by the U.S. skiers to change their boards the day before - more like the day of - the race is just bizarre. Rahlves made one run on those skis and Miller none. Then after seeing Bode's time they decided to switch Daron Rahlves back to his other skis just minutes before he went to the starting gate. This is the equivalent of Tiger Woods getting a set of clubs from the factory the night before the final round of the Master's and teeing them up without even a few swings on the range. Unheard of. It's not like the Olympics just got put on the calendar last week. They've had four years to get their equipment ready to run. The Austrian team got the same skis at the same time but decided - quite correctly - that it was too late in the race cycle to use an untested ski. (And they got on the podium) In post-race interviews both Bode and Daron said the skis were fine, but what were they supposed to say - 'we made a huge tactical mistake'. And since Bode took off in the out-of-the-box boards, and they changed that decision before Daron launched how could the skis have been fine. No question Deneriaz was stellar. When you saw his run mirrored with Walchhofer's, it was really clear how great he skied, so all credit to him. But a last minute equipment change in the biggest event of the year? Totally weird.
#3 Comment from lssc1253
2/13/06 10:59 AM | Permalink

I am REALLY sick & tired of hearing & reading about the BIG STUNNING UPSET and all the trash talk about Bode Miller! Anyone really into the sport knows that the Downhill is Bode's weakest event, remember he started by being the BEST in slalom. I think that before all the stupid so called sport's writers slam him that they should wait to see what he does in 4 more events. The BIGGEST UPSET is that Daron didn't do better in the actual race, even though the race course heavily favored the much bigger (ht & wt) skiers.
#2 Comment from lcdrdwarner
2/12/06 7:56 PM | Permalink

Love it that Shaun White and Danny Kass won Gold and Silver medals. Once again, disappointed that another young American desecrates the American flag by wearing it as a bandanna in direct violation of the U.S. American Flag Code.

A patriot.
#1 Comment from dcsportsguy
2/12/06 2:26 PM | Permalink

I LOVE the Flying Tomato a.k.a. the Egg. He was the best on SBL!

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