Shaun White returns to X Games with worst finish since 2000

ASPEN, Colo. — Shaun White returned to the X Games for the first time in two years hoping to get back on the podium that for so long seemed like a second home.

Instead, the snowboarding legend left Thursday with his worst result since his first trip to the X Games in 2000.

White had his trademark amplitude, soaring more than 21 feet above the superpipe at Buttermilk Mountain, but he fell on the third hit of both of his runs. He placed 11th for his worst finish since he came in 15th as a 13-year-old.

White won the event six consecutive times, with his most recent gold in 2013. He didn’t compete here in 2014 as he prepared for the Sochi Olympics, where he finished fourth.

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White finished fourth in 2015, and he was not invited to compete in 2016.

Now 30, the two-time Olympic gold medalist is starting a path toward trying to make a fourth Olympic team.

Australian Scotty James won the event, scoring a 90 on the first run of the competition to hold on and claim his first X Games gold. Matt Ladley, last year’s gold medalist, took silver with a score of 80, while fellow American Taylor Gold claimed bronze with a 79.

"It’s really surreal," James, who claimed bronze last year, said on the broadcast. "I’m just over the moon."

Follow Rachel Axon on Twitter @RachelAxon.