Shaun White Misses Medal in Halfpipe, Leaves Sochi Empty Handed

Shaun White lost out on a medal in the Sochi Olympics Halfpipem competition this afternoon to rivals from Switzerland and Japan, ending his quest to "three-peat" in the event.

White, a two-time halfpipe gold medalist, put up major tricks during his second run in the halfpipe finals but scored only a 90.25, not enough to catch the leaders, Switzerland's Ioiuri Podladtchikov, who took the gold medal, and Japan's Ayumu Hirano and Taku Hiraoka, who took silver and bronze.

On his first run, White nearly snapped his snowboard in half as he faltered twice coming down from a trick in his first run, scoring a mere 35.

He tried to make up for the miss on his second run but briefly sat on the snow coming down from one trick and ran his hand along the snow to steady himself as he came away from his final jump.

The American had gotten off to an incredible start when he soared 17 feet into the air during his first run, but faltered on the landing for second trick, a switch double 1440, and slid to the ground.

White popped back up immediately and launched into a third trick, a double cork, but as he spun toward the landing White hit the edge of the halfpipe with his backside, nearly sitting down on top of it and bending his snowboard in half in the process.

White slid down the side of the pipe from there and finished the run without any other tricks, scoring only 35 points for that run.

After the event, White posted a pre-taped message to his fans on Youtube and Twitter, telling them, "I can't do it without you, you're the best."