White Finally Flies To X Games Skateboard Gold

CARSON, Calif. (AP) _ The Tomato has never flown quite like this. <br/><br/>Shaun White, the biggest celebrity at the X Games, won on the event's biggest stage Sunday by putting together a soaring,

Sunday, August 5th 2007, 5:30 pm

By: News On 6

CARSON, Calif. (AP) _ The Tomato has never flown quite like this.

Shaun White, the biggest celebrity at the X Games, won on the event's biggest stage Sunday by putting together a soaring, powerful final run that brought him his first gold in men's Skateboard Vert.

The 20-year-old White, known as ``The Flying Tomato'' because of his bright red hair, had won six Winter X Games gold medals and an Olympic gold in Turin, Italy, last year. He finally captured the summer gold that had eluded him.

``This means the world to me,'' choking back tears after his run. ``I've always wanted to be a skateboarder. I'm finally doing my thing.''

White had fallen on each of his first two runs and needed a flawless final. He strung together a high-flying combination of McTwists, 720s and frontside 540s that had the crowd whooping.

After sticking his final trick, White dropped to his knees, ripped off his helmet, and sprayed water over his shaggy red mane.

``I was truly down in the pits after that second run,'' he said. ``On that last trick I said in my head, 'If you fall on this I'm going to hate you. You're going to hate yourself. Just stick it'''

His score of 95.75 shot him well past leader Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who took silver after posting a 91.25 on the second of three runs.

Defending champion Sandro Dias had a chance to top White, but fell halfway through an aggressive final run. Rune Glifberg earned the bronze with an 88.25.

None of the medalists from 2006 _ Dias, Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek, finished in the top three.

White came into these X Games lamenting his lousy performance last year. He focused on bringing his skateboarding feats up to those he'd managed on his snowboard.

``Everybody came up to me and said, 'You've got to win this thing,' he said. ``I seriously searched around wherever I was for some wood to knock on. I had to start carrying my board around.''

After a spring of ceaseless practice, he won the first two Dew Tour events of the year, and now has an X Games gold.

``I'd been showing up at the ramp and just pouring my heart out,'' he said.

There was some speculation coming into the games that he might try the never-before-landed 1080 _ three full mid-air spins, during his routine _ but he didn't need it on a day when very few skaters finished a run without a fall.

White looked decidedly un-Olympian on the medal stand Sunday, wearing a black-and-white bandanna around his head and rocker sunglasses, sticking his tongue out as he grabbed his gold medal.

After conquering two sports, he was asked what his next might be.

``Extreme frisbee,'' he said.