Who is Shaun White?
Shaun White celebrates his final run in the men's snowboard halfpipe final during the U.S. Grand Prix on Jan. 13, 2018 in Snowmass, Colorado. Credit: Getty Images / Matthew Stockman
— Shaun White is a snowboarder and skateboarer who was born in San Diego on Sept. 3, 1986.
— White is known mostly for snowboarding, the dual-sport athete was discovered by Tony Hawk at a skate park in San Diego when he was 7.
— White began competing professionally at 13 and appeared in his first Olympics in 2006 at 19.
— The 31-year-old has won two Olympic gold medals — one in his debut apperance in Torino in 2006 and another in Vancouver in 2010 — in snowboard halfpipe.
— With a chance to make history as the first American man to win gold in the same event at three consecutive Winter Games, White fell twice in his first run on the halfpipe and was forced to be conservative in his second in Sochi in 2014. White finished fourth, missing out on a medal.
— White holds the record for gold medals at the X Games with 15 and has 23 total medals.
— White became the first athlete to compete and medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games when he took the silver in SKB Vert at X Games 2005. White had already won six Winter X Games medals.
— In 2008, White formed the band Bad Things with Davis LeDuke, Jared Palomar, Anthony Sanudo and Lena Zawaidah. White was the lead guitarist in the band.
— White was sued by the former drummer of Bad Things for sexual harrassment and breach of contract in May 2016. He reached a settlement with Zawaideh, the drummer and only female member of Bad Things, a year later. Zawaideh claimed White sent her graphic images and made her watch “sexually disturbing videos, including videos sexualizing human fecal matter.”
— White qualified for the 2018 Olympics by scoring a perfect 100 at the U.S. Grand Prix. It was the second time White recorded a perfect score in the halfpipe. He did it for the first time at the 2012 Winter X Games. Chloe Kim is the only other athlete to put up a perfect score in the history of the snowboarding halfpipe.
— This might be White’s last chance to compete in the Winter Olympics, but he still could make another Olympics appearance. The International Olympic Committee is adding street and park skateboarding events to the Summer Olympics program starting with the 2020 Tokyo Games. White has said he wants to compete.
