People freak out over Shaun White's Olympic win, but it's not the only thing they're talking about

Twitter is torn.
 By 
Johnny Lieu
 on 
People freak out over Shaun White's Olympic win, but it's not the only thing they're talking about
U.S. snowboarder Shaun White celebrates his gold medal win. Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Snowboarder Shaun White has cemented his place as one of the sport's greatest of all time — but some old accusations have joined the moment.

The 31-year-old Californian won his third Olympic gold medal at the men's halfpipe event on Tuesday, achieving a medal-winning feat which no other snowboarder has attained.

After taking the initial lead, White stumbled in his second run which allowed Japan's Ayumu Hirano to overtake him with the difficult-to-beat score of 95.25.

And so, a run of remarkable proportions was required: White delivered right at the death, winning with a score of 97.75. The emotion is no short of palpable.

The win is even better with Titanic music.

It's been an incredible comeback for White. He finished fourth in the same event at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and required 62 stitches after slamming his face into a superpipe while training in New Zealand back in October.

The injury nearly cost White another Olympics, but here we are, and there were plenty of people who shared their elation for him on Twitter.

White's win has also brought to the surface sexual harassment accusations that have been previously laid against the snowboarder.

Lena Zawaideh, formerly a drummer in White's band Bad Things, claimed the snowboarder made vulgar remarks and forced her to watch "sexually disturbing videos," according to USA Today. The pair settled in May 2017, not that people have stopped talking about it.

Topics Olympics

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Johnny Lieu

Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com

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