Shaun White and ‘The Flag Incident’

I bet you clicked this thinking I was going to spend an entire article writing about how Shaun White in his moment of celebration and high emotions accidentally dragged the flag. Nope. I can't even take the time to entertain internet trolls. So yes, this is a bit of click bait, but now I have you. Instead of talking about that, because it's not worth talking about, let's talk about Shaun White's accomplishment and how emotional his win was. You know, the real story.

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics are White's 4th Olympic appearance. He first came onto the Olympic scene back in 2006 in Torino, subsequently this was also his first gold Olympic medal. In 2010 he made his second Olympic appearance in Vancouver where he debuted the Double McTwist 1260 aka The Tomahawk. This was Shaun's second gold. Unfortunately in 2014 at the Sochi Winter Olympics, White finished 4th. This brings us to last night, or well technically not with the time difference, but you get it.

With the 2014 Olympics weighing on everyone's minds, the phrase "road to redemption" was used quite frequently when reporters talked of Shaun White. On top of his loss at the 2014 Olympics, White suffered an injury while training for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Shaun White received 62 stitches in his face

Despite all of that, Shaun White proved once again he is the G.O.A.T. of the half pipe.

REDEMPTION! Shaun White's GOLD MEDAL comeback is complete in his 3rd and final run with a 97.75 on NBC!

A post shared by NBC Olympics (@nbcolympics) on Feb 13, 2018 at 7:16pm PST

I sat on the floor of my living room right in front of the TV, eyes glued. My heart was racing, palms were sweating. I got chills watching his final run for gold.

Pure elation. #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS A post shared by NBC Olympics (@nbcolympics) on Feb 13, 2018 at 7:23pm PST

You can see how much that medal meant to Shaun White. Falling to his knees in tears, the ultimate road to redemption. He is the first to earn 3 Olympic gold medals in snowboarding. White's gold medal also marks the 100th gold medal for the U.S. in the Winter Olympics. All 4 of our gold medals in this year's Olympics are in snowboarding.

All of the feels. #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS

A post shared by NBC Olympics (@nbcolympics) on Feb 13, 2018 at 7:30pm PST

That right there is pure joy and emotion. How can you watch that and not smile? Now that Shaun is 31, which would mean he would be 35 at the next Olympics, there are talks of him retiring from the Olympics. I'll sit here hoping he doesn't for the next 4 years. Congratulations Shaun White, the G.O.A.T of snowboarding.