Will the PyeongChang Olympics be Shaun White’s last?
Shaun White will head to his fourth Winter Olympics in 2018, but will they be his last?
Shaun White’s snowboarding accomplishments speak for themselves.
In addition to his two Olympic gold medals from the 2006 Turin and 2010 Vancouver Games (both in halfpipe), White is the most decorated gold medalist in X Games history. He lays claim to 15 pieces of gold hardware overall (13 in snowboarding, two in skateboarding).
In fact, White won a medal in the X Games every year between his first appearance in 2002 and 2013.
But can White continue to dominate the Winter Olympics the same way he has the X Games? Or do his recent struggles and setbacks signify the beginning of the end for White’s Olympics career?
There’s no question that White has prioritized winning his third Olympic medal above all his other pursuits.
After qualifying for the U.S. Olympic snowboard team at the U.S. Grand Prix in Snowmass, Colorado, on Jan. 13 with a perfect score of 100 after crashing on his first run, White withdrew from the 2018 Winter X Games in Aspen to rest after coming down with the flu.
That illness comes after White suffered a serious crash in October while training for the Olympics in New Zealand. White said his facial injuries required 62 stitches and that he bruised his lungs to boot:
The October crash wasn’t White’s first of the year.
In September at the FIS World Cup, he caught an edge in practice and was sent to the hospital with blood in his urine, as he revealed on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYrJIMcDS7J/?taken-by=shaunwhite
The injuries and illnesses have stacked up for White this year, which is what made his perfect 100 at the Olympics qualifiers (only the second perfect score of his career) all the more triumphant.
But it will make White’s pursuit of his third Olympic medal all the more difficult. After taking gold in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games, White finished a disappointing fourth at Sochi in 2014.
To medal at PyeongChang, 31-year-old White will have to beat out rising stars such as Australia’s Scotty James (23) and Japan’s Ayumu Hirano (19).
Given everything he has had to endure simply to qualify for the Olympic team, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the 2018 Winter Games are White’s last whether or not he is able to reach the podium.
However, that doesn’t mean his Olympics career is over. It might just mean he concentrates his efforts on skateboarding in the Summer Olympics now that the IOC has added the sport to the programme for the 2020 Summer Games.
White hinted at a 2020 Japan Olympics run on Jimmy Kimmel Live back in May:
White will head to PyeongChang for what could very well be his final Winter Games on Saturday, Feb. 3.
Next: Never forget Team USA's 2014 Olympics sweaters
His next competition will take place on Feb. 13 in the men’s snowboard halfpipe qualifier.
If White qualifies for the final, viewers can watch him go for gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe final at 8:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 13 on NBC.