Hours before he went for the win, Shaun White already had delivered a gold-medal moment.
Shortly after qualifying for the Olympic halfpipe final Tuesday, White vaulted the barriers separating him from the fans and gave two young cancer patients high-fives and hugs.
"I thought, 'He's here? What?'" said Ben Hughes, a 10-year-old from St. Louis who was diagnosed with luekemia four years ago.
Also sharing the love was 19-year-old Kaitlyn Lyle, who, like Hughes, was in Russia courtesy of the Make A Wish Foundation.
Lyle said she had "liked" White on his Facebook page.
"I had no idea he'd do this," she said.
She was diagnosed a bit before the Vancouver Olympics and her wish was to come to Russia, where she was torn between asking for tickets for figure skating or snowboarding.
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"But when I saw Shaun win gold (in Vancouver), I chose snowboarding," she said.
Good choice.
This is Kaitlyn Lyle, 19, and Ben Hughes, 10. They're beating cancer with Shaun White's help. Tearful moment pic.twitter.com/ApT7qBXHb4— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) February 11, 2014
