BONGPYEONG-MYEON, South Korea _ Shaun White had one run to make history.
The final competitor in the Olympic snowboard halfpipe competition Wednesday, White had one last chance to become the first American male to win gold at three separate Winter Games.
As he has so often in his career, White came through. The 31-year-old from Carlsbad, Calif., was nearly perfect and scored 97.75 to edge Ayumu Hirano of Japan. Hirano earned a score of 95.25 on his second run to surpass the 94.25 posted by White on his initial run.
White also won gold in the halfpipe at Torino in 2006 and Vancouver in 2010. He was fourth in Sochi in 2014.
This gold medal was the 100th earned by an American at the Winter Olympics. Only speedskaters Bonnie Blair and Eric Heiden have won more individual gold medals (five each) than White.
Top-ranked Scotty James of Australia took the bronze medal with a score of 92.00. American Ben Ferguson was fourth at 90.75.
