Is there a bigger household name at the Winter Olympics than Shaun White? The legend of snowboarding will be action this week trying to regain his Olympic crown. He was a bit of a doubt for the event get to South Korea because injuries were screwing up his preparations, notably his crash in New Zealand when he had 62 stitches in his face.
However, at the US team selection meet, what did he go out and do? Produce a perfect 100 score. Wednesday could be a big day for then for the legend as he looks to get his third Olympic gold medal after winning the halfpipe in 2006 and in 2010. He was in attendance in Sochi four years ago but only came home fourth at the tournament.
That was because of mistakes that he made on both of his runs in the final. So will he get his crown back? The bookmakers think so and White is the 2/1 favourite at Unibet* (betting odds taken on January 12th at 9:17 p.m.) to land gold, but this isn’t likely going to be an easy thing because there are some stronger contenders behind him in the running.
The current Olympic champion Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov suffered a broken nose at the X Games and hasn’t recovered to defend his title. But it is the challenges of Ayumu Hirano and Scotty James, both of which have the credentials to deny White another gold medal. Japan’s 19-year-old Hirano won an Olympic medal four years ago in the sport at the age of just fifteen.
He delivered a win at the X Games too a few weeks ago, becoming the first ever boarder to nail back to back double cork 1440s. He has the tricks and really makes a very solid option at 3/1 at Unibet to land the win* (betting odds taken on January 12th at 9:17 p.m.) here. Australia’s Scotty James seems to be on point at the moment despite failing to make an impression in his last two Olympic appearances.
But last year he really started to get things together and was upping his game. If anyone is going to pull something new out of his bags of tricks at Pyeongchang then it is going to be him. He has been talking up big in his preparations for the event and looks value for a podium finish. Can he put it all together to topple both White and Hirano though?
Men’s Halfpipe Predictions
Hirano has been in cracking forum recently and the memories of four years ago for White, with the mistakes that he made in the final, has to be on the back of the US boarder’s mind. That could make him a little jittery, especially under the pressure that Hirano and James could lay down upon him. Of them all, it is Ayumu Hirano who looks value to land the win.
Men’s Halfpipe Odds
Shaun White 2/1, Ayumu Hirano 3/1, Yuto Totsuka 7/2, Ben Ferguson 11/2, Scotty James 11/1, Raibu Katayama 11/1, Jake Pates 18/1
