PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Cometh the hour, cometh the snowboarder.

Shaun White, the snowboarding legend, stood at the top of the halfpipe for the final run of the competition. After holding the early lead, he had slipped to second behind his much younger rival, Ayumu Hirano of Japan. Now he had to put up a spectacular run to claim his third career gold medal.

Landing a 1440 was not likely to be enough. White would have to match Hirano with back-to-back 1440s.

And darned if he did not do it. White soared high above the pipe, ran off a run of staggeringly difficult tricks and landed them all. He opened up with a frontside double cork 1440 followed by a cab double cork 1440. White said he had never landed the combination before, not even in practice.

The result, a 97.75, won him his third gold medal.

After learning that he had won, White howled in victory, hurled his board, then dropped to his knees in tears. When he embraced his mother, Cathy, the tears flowed even more heavily.