15 greatest Olympians to appear on a Wheaties box

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BARDONECCHIA, ITALY – FEBRUARY 12: Shaun White of the USA competes in the second run winning the Gold medal in the Men’s Halfpipe finals during Day 2 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 12, 2006 at Bardonecchia, Italy. (Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images) /

11. Shaun White, Snowboarding

Shaun White became an Olympic champion for the first time at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but it was hardly his first time to be awarded a gold medal for his snowboarding conquests.

Before snowboarding became an Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, the X Games reigned king. And although the sport had already become an Olympic mainstay by the time of White’s meteoric rise to stardom, it was the X Games where his immense popularity grew worldwide.

White has claimed a total of 13 Winter X Games gold medals in slopestyle and superpipe, making him the most decorated snowboarder in X Games history. He also has two skateboarding gold medals from the 2007 and 2011 Summer X Games.

But despite all these accomplishments, it was not until he won his second career gold medal at Vancouver 2010 that he graced the cover of a Wheaties box.

White returned to the Olympics at Sochi 2014 in search of a third consecutive halfpipe gold medal, but fell just short of the podium with a fourth-place finish. At 29 years old, the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea will likely be his last shot at Olympic gold — at least in the halfpipe.

Next: No. 10

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