Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Snowboard legend Shaun White finished his Olympic career in Beijing on Friday just off the men's halfpipe podium as Japan's Ayumu Hirano took the gold.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist, who announced his intentions to retire after the Games, ended his historic Olympic career with a fourth-place finish following three turns down the 220-meter Secret Garden Olympic Halfpipe.
White, 35, scored a decent 72.00 on a first run that included a frontside 1440, but he landed poorly off a 1080 about midway through.
He momentarily moved into medal contention on his second run with an 85.00 that included a double McTwist 1260 and a frontside 1260.
For his third run of the day -- and his last in the Olympics -- White pulled off a massive 1440. He then pulled off another, but couldn't stick the landing.
From the bottom of the pipe, White took off his helmet and waved as journalists, competitors and the few spectators permitted to be present for the historic moment applauded his legendary Olympic career.
White has performed in every Winter Olympics since 2006, winning gold in all but the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, where he finished fourth.
"I just want to thank everyone for watching," an emotional White told NBC following the competition. "Everyone at home, thank you. Snowboarding, thank you. It's been the love of my life."
"I wanted more today, but I'll take what I can get. I'm proud. It's been my life," he said.
Twice a silver medalist, Hirano took gold Friday and made history in the process by landing the first-ever triple cork in the Olympics.
The 23-year-old pulled off the move during his first run, performing the 1440 variation, which means four full rotations and three off-axis flips.
The run was strong but he netted a 33.75 due to a fall.
On his second turn, he pulled off the triple cork for a second time on a clean run for which the judges gave him a 91.75. That score put him in second place behind Scotty James of Australia, who was sitting in gold until Hirano took the final run,
As the last athlete to go down the pipe, Hirano performed a sublime assortment of big air tricks among which was a third triple cork. And the judges rewarded him with a massive 96 and the gold medal, the first-ever in snowboarding by Japan.
"Today, a dream has come true," Hirano told Olympics.com. "This means something big for me. I can be strong through this challenge."
Australia's James now adds a silver to the bronze he won four years ago in Pyeongchang.
"I'm speechless and pretty honestly quite happy to be on the podium," James told Olympics.com after the event. "It's a big feat. I mean, the whole field is riding super well."
Winning bronze was Switzerland's Jan Scherrer who was competing in his third Olympic Games.