LAAX, Switzerland ( Associated Press) — Shaun White secured his fifth Olympic spot on Thursday when he qualified for the final of a competition in Switzerland and his closest American chase failed.
White finished fifth in the qualifying round, while Chase Blackwell failed to make it to Saturday’s 12-man final.
That means White, who came in as the fourth-ranked American on the World Snowboard Points List, cannot fall further down that ranking, while Blackwell, who was fifth, cannot move up. America has four places in the men’s halfpipe team and is expected to use those rankings to fill the last three spots.
Taylor Gold has already secured a spot with a podium finish at the qualifying event in Colorado last month. Chase Josie and Lucas Foster are also in line to grab the spot.
White could still use Saturday’s final to boost confidence. It is a final that will feature the top three finishers from previous Olympics – White, Ayumu Hirano of Japan and Scotty James of Australia.
White is on the hunt for his fourth Olympic gold medal. However, their lead in the Beijing Games has been poor. He was diagnosed with COVID-19, the lingering effects of which forced him to pull out of the qualifiers at Mammoth Mountain in California last week. Earlier, a torn ligament interrupted his run at the Due Tour in Colorado.
He made the final decision to travel to this week’s World Cup event in Switzerland, the last competition before the coach chose the US team. The team is expected to be selected next week and finalized after January 21.
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