White, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and snowboarding icon, appeared emotional after crashing out of his final run at Friday’s event at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.
White landed a frontside 1440 to open, but couldn’t land his next trick, and skated to the bottom to applause from fans in the crowd.
White was up again a formidable field of contenders. Two-time silver-medalist Ayumu Hirano took gold for Japan, Australia’s Scotty James won silver and Swiss Jan Scherrer went home with bronze. White followed in fourth place.
This is the fifth and final Olympics for White, who has been a major Olympic contender since his Winter Games debut at Turin in 2006. He won his three golds in 2006, 2010, and 2018.
The 35-year-old, once dubbed the “Flying Tomato” because of his flowing red hair, last week said a spate of injuries influenced his decision to retire after the Beijing Games.
That makes this Beijing halfpipe event the final Olympic run for White, who has also racked up 13 titles at the Winter X Games and along the way became a household name and icon of his sport.
“I’ve done so much in the sport — I hope that my riding speaks for itself. I’m always trying to push and progress and do the next biggest things and try to pick up with what trends are happening within the sport and be ahead of that curve,” White told reporters in Beijing last week.
“I’m most proud of staying on top of the sport that’s ever-changing for as long as I have done. That’s legacy performance.”
