1ST LEAD White bags snowboard gold, Shiffrin must wait after slalom shelved By Barry Whelan, dpa

Pyeongchang, South Korea (dpa) - Shaun White won his third Olympic gold with victory in the snowboard halfpipe but fellow Americam Mikaela Shiffrin has had her second start delayed after strong winds scuppered the womenlsquo;s slalom in alpine skiing at the Winter Games on Wednesday.White came from behind to win the menlsquo;s halfpipe in front of the biggest crowd so far at the Phoenix Snow Park."Oh man, that was awful and amazing at the same time," he said on waiting for his score after the final run."I knew I did a great ride and I was proud of that and I could walk away with my head high, but when they announced my score and Ilsquo;d won, it crippled me."White started with a strong run of 94.25, before being passed by Japanlsquo;s Ayumu Hirano, but then earned a stunning score of 97.75 in his final effort.The win means the United States has now won gold in all four freestyle snowboard events so far in South Korea.While Hirano claimed silver with a best score of 95.25, Australialsquo;s Scotty James earned his countrylsquo;s second medal of the Games with a bronze first run of 92.00.Alpine skiinglsquo;s womenlsquo;s slalom was initially delayed at the Yongpyong alpine centre before being postponed, and will now be held on Friday.Shiffrin is yet to compete in an event at the Games, after the womenlsquo;s giant slalom was also affected by winds on Monday and put back to Thursday, when the rescheduled menlsquo;s downhill will also be held.Whitelsquo;s win and the postponement of the slalom left four gold medals to be fought for later in the day, with Germanylsquo;s Laura Dahlmeier also back in action, seeking a third gold in Pyeongchang when she competes in the 15-kilometre biathlon.Germany were also hoping for a medals boost in the Nordic combined where Sochi 2014 gold medallist Eric Frenzel and world champion Johannes Rydzek are among the starters.The womenlsquo;s 1,000m in speed skating and the luge doubles completes the medals action.Elsewhere the menlsquo;s and womenlsquo;s curling tournament got underway, the joint Korea womenlsquo;s ice hockey team were back action with a game against Japan, and the figure skating pairs began with the short programme.Temperatures rose to above freezing for the first time in the mountain resorts and was expected to reach 12 degrees in the Gangneung coastal venue cluster.