If someone had told me no U.S. man would medal in snowboard halfpipe at the Olympics, I’d accuse them of being on bath salts. If they’d told me not one of our guys would land a clean run, and only one–Shaun White–would land one of his runs at all, and it wouldn’t be good enough for a medal, I’d have him committed. Because that would be crazy. Halfpipe riding is as American as stars-and-stripes onesies.

I’m too tired to edit this photo. So kindly turn your computer sideways for a shot of the 2014 Sochi halfpipe.

And then it happened. But congrats to Iouri. He has been working so hard, pushing the sport and it meant so much to him to win in Russia, the country in which he was born. Two years ago, I wrote a piece at the Winter X Games about Shaun and Iouri and their relationship. You can read that piece HERE.

Tonight after the event, interviews and press conferences, I did a hit on SportsCenter (that I assumed aired at some point Tuesday) and then wrote THIS PIECE. I went to sleep at 6 am, which is why I am writing this post Wednesday morning,

Back to the halfpipe for women’s finals tonight.