With Mikaela Shiffrin crashing out of the first two slalom events, Team USA had a rather gloomy start. However, “The Flying Tomato” produced a sensational performance earlier today to raise the American spirits. After failing to nail a qualification spot in his first run, Shaun White performed under pressure and exhibited brilliance.

Shaun White on performing under pressure…

During the first run, Shaun?lost his balance while doing a trick and dropped vital points. With the tournament favorite, Ayumu Hirano, putting up a big score, White needed a miracle. Showing up big when needed the most, he scored 86.25 in his second run to qualify for the finals.

Following his triumph, he spoke to an NBC reporter, opening up on the tense situation.

“First run, everything was clicking and I think I just took that little relaxed approach to that. The next thing I knew, I was sliding on my back thinking about what happened. The way they have been running today, my next run would be you know around an hour from that.”

“So I had a lot of time to kill, a lot of thoughts going in my head, a lot of pressure. I am so happy that I put that last run down. I’m feeling incredible. You gotta fight for it if you wanna get into finals, so I am happy,” said White.

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Back-to-back gold medals?

During the final run of the 2018 Olympics, White needed a big score to get to the finish line. Delivering two 1440s, he won himself a gold medal to the delight of fans in attendance. Similarly, the second run had him conjuring up a sensational performance.

With the finals happening on February 11th, 2022, White will be aiming for a fourth Olympic gold medal. However, with competition tougher than ever, can the ‘Flying Tomato’ go out in style?

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