Shaun White

Ahead of his Olympic swan song next month in Beijing, Shaun White finished third in the men's snowboarding halfpipe at the Laax Open in Switzerland on Saturday.

According to NBC Sports OlympicTalk, that marked White's first podium finish since 2018, as he took a three-year break from snowboarding following the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

SHAUN WHITE HAS ARRIVED‼️@usskiteam | #LaaxOpen pic.twitter.com/z2REQjEfVi

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) January 15, 2022

Per OlympicTalk, White is expected to be one of four male snowboarders named to Team USA for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

White told Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone this week that the 2022 Winter Olympics will "for sure" be the final one of his illustrious career.

The 35-year-old White, who is set to make his fifth Olympic appearance, is the most decorated snowboarder in Olympic history.

He is one of only two male snowboarders to win three Olympic medals, and all three of those medals are gold.

White made his Olympic debut in Turin, Italy, in 2006 and won gold, and he followed it up with another gold medal at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

After shockingly finishing off the podium in fourth at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, White returned to the top of the sport in 2018 in PyeongChang by winning his third halfpipe gold.

OlympicTalk noted that White played it somewhat safe Saturday, as he cruised on his second run since he was already assured of being the top-finishing American.

He also didn't attempt a double cork 1440, which is the trick that helped him finish atop the podium four years ago.

Meanwhile, Beijing favorite Ayumu Hirano of Japan hit consecutive 1440s and won the event with a score of 93.25, while White scored an 84.

Entering his final Olympics, White seems to be favoring health and availability, and the fact that he was still able to finish third without pulling out his best stuff could bode well for his chances of medaling.

If neither White nor any other American finishes on the podium in men's halfpipe in Beijing, it will mark only the second time that has happened since snowboarding was introduced to the Olympic program in 1998.

There was no title Sunday for Shaun White as he gears up toward the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

White finished in seventh place in the men's snowboard superpipe final at the Dew Tour at Copper Mountain in Colorado. He posted a disappointing 30.75 and 10.50 on his first two runs, which put the pressure on the final one if he was going to make the podium.

These are international competitions. White is still definitively one of the top three American riders, so he will no doubt be on the Olympic team.

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) December 19, 2021

While he was much better with an 82.00, it wasn't enough to defeat Yuto Totsuka.

The entire field was left looking up at Totsuka, who took home the title with a score of 95.50 with a spectacular final run. He was joined by Taylor Gold (92.00) and Ruka Hirano (89.00) in the medal positions.

Yet it was White who was the headliner, especially after he delivered under pressure in Thursday's qualifying run. As Michelle Bruton of Forbes noted, he posted a score of just 27.50 in his first qualifying run but clinched a spot in the final with a fourth-place finish with a score of 85.75.

I’d say @shaunwhite was pretty stoked on that second run. he finishes fourth in qualies with a score of 85.75 and is on to the final Sunday @DewTour pic.twitter.com/0n0OO3Btkv

— Michelle Bruton (@MichelleBruton) December 16, 2021

Alas, there were not enough late heroics for the snowboarding legend.         

Decorated snowboarding champion Shaun White may be set for his Olympic swansong next year in Beijing.

During an appearance on NBC's Today show Wednesday, White said he "think[s]" the 2022 Winter Olympics will be his "last run" as an Olympic snowboarder:

"This is, I think, my last run." –Snowboarder @shaunwhite says #Beijing2022 will be his last Olympic Games. pic.twitter.com/ir9LFRDNyU

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 15, 2021

When asked to explain his decision, White said:

"It's hard to talk about because my whole life I've kind of been looked at as somewhat superhuman, because I do these things [in the halfpipe]. ... I've prided myself on being that individual. And, man, realizing and admitting to myself and everyone else, 'Yeah, I'm human,' it's taken a toll."

The 35-year-old White is the most successful snowboarder in Olympic history with three gold medals.

Snowboarding was first introduced into the Olympic program in 1998, and White made his Olympic debut during the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

White won men's halfpipe gold in Turin 2006 and Vancouver in 2010 before disappointingly failing to make the podium in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, finishing fourth.

The San Diego native earned redemption at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, however, returning to the top of the mountain as the halfpipe gold medalist.

While White was still at the height of his game then, the 18-time Winter X Games medalist recently admitted that snowboarding has taken a greater toll on his body as of late.

According to Tom Schad of USA Today, White said during a media summit that the "day-in and day-out grind" of doing tricks is "getting harder."

White added that it is compounded by the fact that tricks that were once considered top of the line are now commonplace.

The United States' 14 Olympic gold medals and 31 total medals in snowboarding are the most of any nation by far, and White has contributed heavily to the country's success.

If he indeed commits to retiring from Olympic snowboarding after Beijing, White will have one more opportunity to add to the medal count for himself and Team USA.

The 2022 Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 4 through Feb. 20.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White headlined the men's field at the first of three 2021-22 FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cups at Copper Mountain in Frisco, Colorado, on Saturday. 

The event kicked off the season's U.S. Grand Prix tour and was also second of four U.S. Olympic selection events for snowboard halfpipe leading up to February's Olympics in Beijing. 

While the participants took part in three runs, only their best run counted.

White started the day in impressive fashion, scoring a 75.50 on his first run after throwing down two switch-frontside double cork 1080s into a frontside 540, a double McTwist 1260 before finishing with an alley-oop backside rodeo. 

He finished the first run ranked third behind Japanese competitors Ruka Hirano (89.25) and Raibu Katayama (81.25). 

SHAUN. WHITE. pic.twitter.com/5XxXo9yHkk

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) December 11, 2021

However, the 35-year-old struggled in his second run, scoring a 64.25 after performing two frontside 1080s, a pair of frontside 540s and a double McTwist 1260. 

Big performers in the second run included Americans Taylor Gold (87.00) and Chase Josey (85.25) and Japan's Yuto Totsuka (87.75), who bounced back from a rough first run in which he recorded a 14.25. 

Taylor Gold put it DOWN on his second run. 👏@usskiteam | 📺 NBCSN and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/DLVmOAXD1p

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) December 11, 2021

Chase Josey is building momentum on run # 2!@usskiteam | 📺 NBCSN and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/EKNJlrD2CV

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) December 11, 2021

White had an even worse performance on his third and final run of the afternoon, scoring a 5.00 after performing a double cork 1080 but failing to stick the landing. He finished the afternoon ranked eighth, while Hirano, Switzerland's Jan Scherrer and Totsuka finished on the podium. 

Before Saturday's event, White last competed in March, placing fourth at the U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen. That event ended his three-year hiatus following his victory at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. 

Travis Scott might not be the best on the slope, but the novice snowboarder has a friend who is.

The rap star got some help from Olympian Shaun White this week, and it wasn't long before he was grinding and going airborne down the mountains.

White posted a video showing his protege's progress, with Scott clearly excited after landing the jump (warning: NSFW language):

Travis Scott got snowboarding lessons from X Games legend Shaun White 🔥 *NSFW*

(via @shaunwhite) https://t.co/rL2VXhaH8l

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 31, 2021

Scott said in an Instagram post he was "overly hyped," and he had good reason to be. He only got his snowboard January 1.

Not bad progress for 30 days of work. With White's help, he might even be shredding halfpipes by this time next year.

Shaun White is one of the most accomplished American athletes of all time. The California native is best known for his skill as a snowboarder, which includes winning three Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe. 

From 2002-13, White won 18 Winter X Games medals (13 gold) between the superpipe and slopestyle. He also won five medals in the vert as a skateboarder during the Summer X Games. 

As White continues to prepare himself for a potential return to the Winter Olympics in 2022, the 33-year-old took time from his schedule for a B/R AMA to answer fan questions about a variety of topics, including Tony Hawk, sports GOATs and much more. 

The following is the full transcript from the AMA session.   

    

@just_in_time: What was the most valuable thing Tony Hawk taught you as a mentor?

Tony never really sat me down and said you should do this or do that. He was always leading by example. It was just so awesome to be around somebody gaining this level of success, going through things I was just about to go through myself. People approaching him at dinner, he's trying to eat...but he stayed true to who he was. I remember we were in a limo heading to a concert, and the driver said oh my gosh I'm so sorry it's not fresh ice. Tony was like, what are you talking about...I'll eat this dirty ice! I used to sleep on the floor in my buddy's house so we could skate. He was still the same guy through and through. It was the little things I'd pick up along the way, staying true to who you are. I pack my bags, I pick up after my dog, not much has changed too dramatically in my life. I could get a slew of people around me to do the mundane things in my life, but i like the feeling of being normal and doing normal things. I just don't feel like through the fame and success and media pressure, I feel like I've stayed the same. I learned that from Tony at that time.

We were doing an interview together and every single time this question would pop up, so what do you think about shaun white being the next Tony Hawk? And he'd say, I think that's terrible. I was like, what do you mean? I wanna be my idol. He said, I don't think anyone should be the next Tony Hawk. I think Shaun White should be Shaun White...he was very wise in those situations, very inspiring. He set me on my own path.

     

@lucasgottshall: Favorite "behind the scenes" moment at the Olympics?

There was this guy at the olympics that owned a restaurant nearby and he had named one of his burgers the shaun white burger. I went in there to get the burger, cause obviously, you gotta try your own burger. On the menu it said only available for shaun white, and people were messaging me this photo. So i go in there, the guy loses it, he's so excited. I have the burger, and it was pretty good. And then during the thing I read below, it said there's two meat patties in this burger, and he hopes to win a third if i win my third medal...it came with two chicken wings, oddly enough because i fly a lot through the air, it was very involved. I win the medal, i come back to the restaurant, and he burst into tears. I put the medal on him, he made me a triple stack burger.

    

@beneg92: How do you deal with the intense pressure of competing at such high stakes competitions like the Olympics?

Luck favors the prepared, so obviously a lot of prep goes into it. by the time i get there, it's more about relaxing and just letting all that prep take over and you just do what you do. You've already learned the routine, you know the tricks, you just have to let it happen. More than 50% of it is the mental game, letting go and letting it happen...the olympics is one of those where nothing can really prepare you for that, you just have to get there and figure it out for yourself. I feel like when I do get back to the olympics, I have a leg up on the competition who are there for the first time.

     

@just_in_time: Do you belong on the Mt. Rushmore of athletic GOATs? If not, who do you put up there?

I'm not a self promoter, so i don't know if I'd put myself in there. Part of being a competitor, you always think you can do better, like a musician leaving the studio, it's not done. You want to keep growing and continuing to do more. I'm proud of what I've done but... I'd say Ali, Jordan, Tiger Woods, and then myself. Just fill it out.

     

@Steve_Perrault: What do you remember from the CNN interview where you said "I'm talking about Mountain Dew, baby!" That was hilarious.

It was so funny because I had been doing these back-to-back interviews and I didn't realize this until after the Olympics that it's just this giant media tour. They fly you around, you do interviews all over the world. I'm attending fashion shows in Milan, it's nuts. They throw me on CNN and I think I had been watching a lot of Dave Chappelle at that point. The host, I think her name was Robin, was just like "What are you talking about?" Because I was mentioning I had been flying around and people were excited to have me on the plane so they were like "Whatever you want! Like, how many snack packs do you want, we'll bring them all out." I was getting the real royal treatment. She tried to act like I was getting served alcohol and I was like what are you talking about. I think I was actually talking about Mountain Dews at the time, everybody thinks I was talking about drinking but I really was talking about Mountain Dews, baby. I was 19 and so serious about competing so I was definitely talking about Mountain Dew and they were a sponsor of mine. Whoever Mr. Mountain Dew was at home must have been like "Yes!"

      

What is your favorite moment of your career?

That's tough. I would say either this last olympics because it was such a victorious comeback for me since I lost the one before and got injured and went through all this crazy stuff...but I would honestly say my first olympics. I was 19, had no idea what I was in store for. Everything was so fresh and new and fun. I was thinking to myself, how cool would it be to win the olympics. My brain could only grasp that, how very cool it'd be. afterward I remember sliding down to the finish area, I knew I had won and i'm thinking oh this is cool, and I pull up and my whole family is there in the front row. And they're all crying. and you can't help it, you know, when your dad is crying? So I start getting emotional, and my mom leaned into me, crying into my shoulder saying "you'll forever be shaun white olympic gold medalist. This title will live forever." I was awestruck by that. It meant a lot to me that everybody was there, freaking out and crying. There was so much it took to get to that place. Snowboarding was an unappealing sport for a long time.

     

@brandtgray2: Who inspired you to snowboard?

That inspiration came from my brother. He was always doing the newest and coolest things. He's seven years older than me...one day he said I'm gonna do this thing called snowboarding. I was like, I gotta do what he's doing.

     

@HomerJaySimpson: What type of music do you listen to?

It's all over. I love oldies...James Brown, Al Green. But I found a love for classic rock and rock music from playing instruments. I play guitar, I'm learning piano currently. And man I love hip hop too. I'm kind of the all genre kind of thing.

      

@AthletesOfChrist: What's your favorite place to snowboard?

Mammoth mountain. I love it up there. It's so close to my home. There's cool stuff around the mountain too, you can go out to these natural hot springs in the middle of the wilderness.

     

@adavis68: What were you feeling after you won your first gold medal?

It was seeing the family and then honestly I didn't really believe it until the next day. Because you're thrust into this thing that's like...when you're going to the airport and it's the switch backs of rope extensions that you have to walk through. There's no one in the line but you still have to walk through this corral, they have one of those but on each side of that it's littered with camera crews from around the world. You win, they throw flowers in your hand, i think they play the anthem and things...and then you walk through this corral. They're like, you're live in Sweden! Everywhere you can think of in the world, you're live all of a sudden...i was up until at least 3 or 4 in the morning doing interviews...i didn't believe until i woke up and saw the medal on the dresser next to me. That was the craziest thing, the disbelief of it all.

     

@jack_penny: Why did you cut your hair?

Great question. We got to a point where I'd lived so long with this long hair and i was ready for a change. I went to this event in las vegas, and do you know who carrot top is? So man. I run into the Carrot, and he's just like, talking to me and we're talking about our hair...and he basically looked at me, like you could see into his soul, and was like I'm kind of stuck like this, this is my life...and it was like seeing the ghost of christmas future...like omg, there's still time, i can change. So i get home, and i don't wanna just lob it off for no reason...i realized i could donate my hair and they make wigs out of it for children undergoing certain illnesses, so i ended up donating my hair and making a video out of it and posting it on the internet. 

    

@SportsCentral: If you could play any other sport what would it be and why?

Probably surfing. Cause boards and I get along. I'm named shaun after Shaun Tomson, professional South African surfer. Basically, loved surfing a little bit but not as much as my dad did. He always wanted me to be a pro surfer. There are moments where I'm standing on top of the mountain and I'm freezing...I'm a Southern California kid and I get to the mountain, and I'm freezing. And I look at my phone and Kelly Slater just posted from Fiji...obviously I've grown to love the mountains throughout my profession, but yeah, surfing. After that, soccer. I love soccer.

     

@vic4life_: Hardest trick to do?

Double flip 1440s, 1440 just describing the degrees of rotation. So spinning that much while doing two flips on a halfpipe is one of the biggest tricks right now. So yea, I would stick with that.

      

@Coco9: What was the worst injury you've had snowboarding?

Probably my face. I was in New Zealand a month or two before the Olympic qualifying started. I'm having the best day ever, they're pumping classic rock at the halfpipe, Dan Bilzerian just helicoptered in with a bunch of beautiful women, epic day. I clipped the top of the halfpipe and then bounced 22 feet to the bottom and just bashed my face into some ice chunks or something. Next thing I know the blood is pouring down my face. Hospital is a very loose term down in New Zealand so they helicoptered me to this other town to get put back together. That was probably the most mentally jarring because it was my face. Trying to eat soup or cereal through the stitches just sucked.

     

@ChickfilAisbetta: Chick-fil-A or Popeyes?

Oh my god. Probably chick-fil-A. I'm kind of an in-n-out guy, but chick-fil-A.

     

@Crazy_Dingus: Your thoughts on pineapple on pizza?

I'm a fan. I'm not mad at it. What's the debate, that it shouldn't be there? Lean into it, get tropical.

      

White was planning to compete for a spot in skateboarding at the 2020 Olympics but announced in March he decided to focus all of his efforts on snowboarding for the 2022 Games. 

If White qualifies for the 2022 Winter Olympics, it will mark his fifth consecutive appearance in the Games. 

The extreme sports athlete of the generation has been knocked down a peg in the history books.

Snowboarder Mark McMorris earned his 19th career Winter X Games medal Saturday, topping Shaun White's longtime record.

.@markmcmorris makes #XGames history earning his 19th career medal passing Shaun White's longstanding record for most winter medals at X Games. pic.twitter.com/EQxBIMnda2

— X Games (@XGames) March 7, 2020

McMorris, 26, won gold in the men's snowboard big air competition Saturday at the Games in Norway, finishing ahead of Max Parrot and Darcy Sharpe. The Canadian captured a silver medal in the big air event in Aspen in January.

That he's still competing at all is a marvel. McMorris suffered significant injuries after crashing into a tree while snowboarding with his brother and friends near Whistler, British Columbia, in 2017, resulting in fractures to his jaw, pelvis, ribs and left arm as well as a ruptured spleen and collapsed left lung. The recovery required two surgeries.

Less than a year later, McMorris won his second Winter Olympics bronze medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the men's slopestyle event.

At the X Games, he's totaled nine gold medals, seven silvers and three bronzes—finishing on the podium every year since 2011.

White still holds the career X Games medal record with 23 podium finishes across the Summer and Winter Games.

Shaun White saw his run at the 2019 World Skateboarding Championships end in the semifinal round Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

The 33-year-old finished 13th among 20 remaining skaters. Only the top eight moved on to Sunday's final, and White missed the cut by 1.5 points with a score of 82.00, according to TeamUSA.org. He was competing to gauge where he stood among the world's best skaters ahead of skateboarding's Olympic debut next summer in Tokyo.

"This will be the deciding event," White told SporTV following Thursday's qualifying round. "I basically told myself I'd go here and give it everything I have, and then, after this competition, see how I stack up with the other skaters and then make the decision to fully commit to the Olympics."

White also admitted that "it's been difficult" to translate the tricks he has mastered on vert (halfpipe) ramps to the bowl for park skating, which is necessary because the only two featured Olympic skateboarding events are park and street for both men and women. 

While White has earned five medals (two gold, two silver, one bronze) as a skateboarder at the X Games, he competed in vert and hasn't participated since 2011. Should he first decide to try for Tokyo and then qualify, it would be his fifth trip to the Olympics but first as a skateboarder.

Along with the competitors in Sao Paulo, White was previously seen sharpening his skating skills with the legendary Tony Hawk:

Stop what you're doing and watch the two legends @tonyhawk and @shaunwhite team up. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/iiyOWvtmvT

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 1, 2019

White became a household name as an Olympic snowboarder. He has competed in snowboarding in four Olympics (2006, '10, '14, '18) and notched three gold medals—all in halfpipe.