Let’s get one thing straight. The Olympics are Shaun’s to lose. Since Shaun White strapped in atop his private pipe in Silverton, CO almost a year ago, he has unleashed a world of firsts in competitive halfpipe snowboarding. Mike Michalchuk and Kim Christianson might have been the first riders to bring the double cork to contest runs, but Shaun White surely must be credited with bringing them to the masses.

Of the five Olympic qualifier Grand Prix events this winter, Shaun won four of them, two of which after he had already qualified for the Vancouver Games. Shaun White is no doubt the most celebrated halfpipe competitor in snowboarding history, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon, and though White’s dominance couldn’t be quelled in the pipe thus far, there are plenty of riders at the Olympics who will be looking to take him down at Cypress. There’s a target on his back, but the scary fact is that when Shaun White is a marked man going into an event, that’s when he seems to ride his best. And make no mistake…White is hungry.