US star is White-hot favorite

VANCOUVER — All eyes will be on snowboarding superstar Shaun White Wednesday as the American redhead attempts his gravity-defying Double McTwist 1260 in a spectacular bid to defend his Olympic title.

White landed his unprecedented move, an inverted aerial in which he flips head over heels twice while spinning 3 1/2 times and holding the board, to win gold at last month's Winter X Games -- adding to his huge haul of medals.

The 23-year-old said he would be disappointed if he did not include the trick in his routine -- even though he struck his head in a hard fall on the first try at the X Games, which he admits shook him up.

But a cagey White said he wanted to keep some of his routine under wraps.

"I don't want to give everything away. Big airs. I've been working on my double cork," he said.

Referring to his Double McTwist 1260, he said: "It's just a massive trick. I've been working on it a couple of years now. The 1260 refers to the degrees. It's really intense.

"You take off and on the second one you go into it blind. You just pray," he added, admitting it was the toughest trick he had ever tried.

The task for White will be made easier by the absence of US snowboarders Kevin Pearce, who suffered a serious head injury in training, and Danny Davis, who sustained a severe back injury in a quad bike accident.

Pearce is among the few to defeat White in competition while Davis took top spot in the second of US Olympic trials, beating White.

Also absent is Australian star Nathan Johnstone, who broke his ankle in training. He was replaced by Scott James, who at just 15 years old is the youngest competitor to compete in the snowboard events at the Vancouver Games.

It is difficult to see beyond White but challengers could include Switzerland's Iouri Podladtchikov, who won the World Cup title in 2008, White's US team-mates Scott Lago and Louie Vito and Japan's Kazuhiro Kokubo.

A number of competitors, including White, have voiced concerns over the condition of the halfpipe, which is located at Cypress Mountain, the venue plagued by mild weather and rain.

"It needs a little work. The first day is never the best. The walls were good, the shape was good, but it's pretty soft. It's looking pretty tight," he said on Sunday.

Norway's Staale Sandbech said he was a "little scared" while Manuel Pietropoli of Italy also had concerns.