Shaun White Wins Gold With Dramatic, Dazzling Aerial Show (Watch)

CARLSBAD, CA — Shaun White, America's most famous snowboarder, earned a gold medal in dramatic fashion Tuesday night at the 2018 Winter Olympic games. White dazzled the crowd in South Korea as well as millions of watchers worldwide with his final run in the men’s halfpipe final, earning a score of 97.75.

Heading into the final run, White, 31, trailed 19-year-old Ayumu Hirano of Japan, who put up a sensational score of 95.25. White told reporters before the final run that he planned to try his best during the qualifying round to finish first – and he did — so that he could go last during the medal round and would know exactly what kind of score he'd need to put together to win.

It worked.

White put on a spectacular aerial show that included back-to-back 1440-degree turns — four revolutions each — and a "Double McTwist 1260," for a walk-off win. You can watch his final run below.

White's gold was the fourth for the United States in Pyeongchang. The others came from snowboarders Red Gerard, Jamie Anderson and Chloe Kim. This is White's third gold medal, but just his first since 2010.

White, who was born in San Diego, grew up in Carlsbad and went to Carlsbad High School, ranks third among Americans in individual winter gold medals, behind speedskaters Bonnie Blair and Eric Heiden, who have five each.

HISTORY! @shaunwhite becomes the first snowboarder to win three #gold medals at the #Olympics! Oh, and just also happens to be the 100th gold medal for #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/UnvsEtlr2L
— NBC4 Columbus (@nbc4i) February 14, 2018

When you see your coach after winning GOLD. @shaunwhite @jjthomas_ pic.twitter.com/tgyFryLq9H
— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) February 14, 2018

All of the feels. #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS pic.twitter.com/0UiuoPrjkE
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 14, 2018

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images