:42:00
That's pretty much
what it comes down to.
:42:40
[Man ] Shaun is setting the bar
in every event he does.
[ Cheering]
:42:43
It doesn't matter
if it's slope style or rail jam,
if it's half-pipe.
:42:50
I hate to use
the Michael Jordan reference.
We'll say LeBron James.
:42:54
He's like LeBron James
on a snowboard.
:42:57
Shaun, we love you!
:42:59
[Masekela]
I don't think we even have any idea
how big his star's going to be.
:43:03
[Announcer On P.A. ]
Anybodyknow his name?
Shaun White coming home with the gold.
:43:09
If he thought he was famous now,
just wait till the Olympics.
:43:27
[ Narrator]
Despite growing acceptance,
snowboarding was still underground.
:43:31
In the mid-'80s, early contests
brought together snowboarders
from all over the world,
:43:36
triggering the sport's
rapid evolution.
:43:41
The U.S. Open was huge for us
on the East Coast.
:43:43
That's where we went to watch
the other guys that were top in the sport
show us what they had.
:43:47
And it was our chance
to show them what we had.
:43:50
I started snowboarding
up in Tahoe.
:43:54
And not until the first time I went to
my first world championships contest
in Breckenridge...
:43:58
did I realize that snowboarding
existed anywhere except Tahoe.