American snowboard superstar Shaun White pulled out his biggest tricks when it mattered to regain his Olympic halfpipe title at the age of 31.

White went into the third and final run of the competition trailing 19-year-old Japanese rider Ayumu Hirano, who had moved into first place with a dazzling second run.

But White roared back with a near-flawless 97.75 to seal his third Olympic gold medal and earn redemption from Sochi, when his decision to also try slopestyle back-fired and he left without a medal.

Shaun White
Shaun White won his third Olympic gold medal in Pyeongchang (Mike Egerton/PA)

White said: “I knew I had it in me to do it. It’s my third gold and it means the world to me to come back from Sochi and find the love and passion for the sport and be able to deliver it again.”

Bad weather continued to play havoc with the Pyeongchang schedule with the women’s slalom and the biathlon postponed, while precautions had to be taken around the Gangneung Olympic Park due to exceptionally high winds.

Inside the venue, Eve Muirhead’s curling team made an impressive start with a 10-3 victory over the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

Eve Muirhead
Eve Muirhed got off to a stunning start in the women’s curling competition (David Davies/PA)

Muirhead said: “To get off to a strong start like that at an Olympic Games is fantastic. It’s crucial we did that as it’s a long week but we stamped our authority that Team GB are here and playing well.”

There were mixed fortunes for Muirhead’s brother Thomas in the men’s rink, who started their campaign with a tight 6-5 victory over Switzerland, but fell 6-4 to gold medal favourites Canada in the evening.

Eric Frenzel of Germany won the Nordic combined, which features a ski jump and 10km cross-country race.

Holland’s Jorien ter Mors claimed gold in the women’s 1,000m long-track speed-skating, ahead of Japan’s Nao Kodaira.

And Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany won the men’s doubles luge.