Was there every any doubt? Shaun White proved yet again that he is the world’s top halfpipe snowboarder with an unprecedented perfect score of 100 in the superpipe final at Winter X Games, winning his fifth consecutive gold medal in the discipline.

Two days earlier, an ankle sprain forced White to withdraw from a very competitive slopestyle event. There was some question whether he would be able to compete in Sunday’s pipe final, particularly after he failed to show up for Saturday’s pipe practice.

Then White came out with a bang at the elimination round Sunday afternoon, dominating the field and leading the qualification for the final round. He even broke his amplitude record set in last year’s gold medal-winning finals performance.

The talk around Winter X was the sheer intensity of superpipe’s progression with double corks, back to back 12s and various stylized tweaks marking each of the eight riders in the final. Among the favorites to challenge White were Iouri “Ipod” Podlatchikov, who won last week’s pipe final in Vermont at the Dew Tour, and Luke Mitrani, who won the Grand Prix in Breckenridge, Colo., in December, qualifying second to White in the elimination round. Other not-so-wild-card contenders included just about everyone in the final: Louie Vito, Markus Malin, Christian Haller, Greg Bretz and Ryo Aono.

Yet none could match the ferocity of White who took a commanding lead after his first run, achieving a score of 94.

A second-run fall on his final hit enabled a fight to the finish. With White, Podlatchikov and Haller sitting 1-2-3, the race was on for the remaining finalists to make a charge for a podium spot.

Vito faltered on his final run, but then Aono put down a flawless run that put him in third. Matt Ladley, Bretz and Mitrani followed, yet none could put together a run worthy of an X Games medal.

White and snowboard cross champion Nate Holland are the only X Games athletes to win five gold medals in the same event.

In classic White fashion, however, the Carlsbad, Calif., native was not content with a commanding win and a history making five-peat. Dropping in a for a casual “victory lap” White broke new ground. Combing jaw-dropping amplitude, textbook skill and style and a technical difficultly never before seen, White executed the first truly perfect performance in Winter X Games history, including an 18-foot backside air, a 17-foot frontside double cork 1080, an 11-foot switch frontside double cork 1080, a 14-foot frontside cork 540, a 13-foot backside double cork 1260 and a 12-foot frontside double cork 1260 — the first back-to-back double cork in Winter X.

The judges with the the perfect 100.

A surreal moment for the global audience but not a speechless one for White.

“It was bizarre — and my coach Bud Keene was saying ‘They’re going to give you a 100 if you make it.’ ” said White. “I’m thinking he was very excited. But I don’t know, I just came through it and everything felt perfect. I was landing the 10 at the top and the cab double came through perfect. I don’t know if I have ever landed my double Mc12 as clean as I have tonight, so that just set myself up perfect for the frontside double cork 12. I guess it’s the first (time) ever to do back-to-back double cork 12s. What a night.”

Source: USA Today.

*Taken from Life on Michigan Ave.