"Shaun White nearly never made it to the Olympics after two heart operations as a baby. And despite winning halfpipe gold on Sunday, it was only the sight of his family that produced tears.
White, dubbed the "Flying Tomato" because of his red locks, splatted his rivals with an awesome first run in the final to justify his favorite tag after recovering from a poor first qualifying run. The American battled even harder as a youngster, undergoing heart surgery twice before the age of five after being born with a heart defect.
"For my mom it is great because I had heart problems as a baby. She'd hold my foot during operations," the 19-year-old told a news conference as he blamed his family for a rare show of emotion after claiming gold.
"It was just tears, not crying," White shouted, when teammate and silver medalist Danny Kass said he saw him crying. "The family comes up ...their eyes are beet red. It wasn't my fault, it was my family."
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Cheers and tears!