Snowboarding icon Shaun White is soaking up every single moment of his last Olympics
ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Shaun White has been relishing the small parts – the last opening ceremony, the last time checking out the halfpipe and, soon, his last Olympic runs.
White affirmed what seemed likely: his fifth Winter Games would be his last snowboarding competition entirely, the last time anyone could see the three-time gold medalist on the stage that he had used to help grow his sport.
“For me, this has all had this amazing glow to every single decision, every single competition because this will be my last Olympics,” White said Saturday. “I’m just so excited about everything. Opening ceremony was incredible. The venue looks incredible. Just enjoying every single moment.”
White said the decision became evident while training in Austria in the lead-up to these Games. He had called off training because of a lingering ankle injury, had pain in his knee despite surgery to repair it and had tweaked his back working out.
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Riding the chairlift back up, he contemplated his future.
“On that chairlift ride, it was like the mountain was closing. There was no one around,” White said. “I was watching the sun go down, and it just hit me. This is it. These are the signs. It was a very sad and surreal sort of moment. But then very joyous as well because I’ve kind of reflected on all the things I’ve done.”
To a degree, the implications that this would be his final competition had been somewhat clear. White has traditionally taken time off following the Games, reinvesting in the other parts of his life for a couple years before returning to snowboard contests.
At 35, he is already feeling the effects of time, struggling with the wear on his body after two decades atop his sport. Finishing his career on the biggest stage seemed most fitting.
But with qualifying still to come for White on Wednesday, he hardly seemed eager to define his legacy.
“Hopefully my riding speaks for itself. I’m always trying to push and progress and do the next biggest thing and try to pick up on what trends are happening in the sport and be ahead of that curve,” White said. “Everyone’s catching up. There are incredibly talented riders out there, and I feel like I had a helping hand to inspire them.”
In the years since White won gold in Pyeongchang, a triumphant run in which he landed back-to-back double cork 1440s, other riders have become the standard-bearers of the sport.
Competing in his fourth Olympics, Australian Scotty James has a technical arsenal of tricks. Led by two-time silver medalist Ayumu Hirano, the Japanese team has pushed the progression by landing triple corks – or three off-axis flips with varying degrees of rotation – for the first time.
“I’m watching the tricks get heavier and heavier,” White thought that day on the chairlift in Austria.
With that decision, White has opted to enjoy the final moments of his competitive career. There’s more to the sport, he notes, and he’s not leaving snowboarding entirely.
But for a rider who built his name and fame with his gravity-defying tricks in the halfpipe, the runs here will be his last.
“I really have an idea in my head of what I’d like to put down and as long as I can put that down, then I’m happy,” White said.
“I know that either way, leaving this Olympics, I’m so happy. Just to make it here is such a feat. To enjoy this whole process is special."