Shaun White had the gold medal locked up in halfpipe snowboarding, but still had one run left. It was time for a "victory lap" – the run that means nothing and is a chance to have some fun. But it never works. The pressure gone, the focus fading, the victory lap turns into a crash and shrug-shouldered slide down the pipe. Except this day. White hit every trick before coming to his last air. Running out of speed and hill, he attempted what the world had been talking about since he arrived – his new trick, the double McTwist 1260 – and nailed it. That was a victory lap.
PHOTO: Mark J. Terrill/AP
