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Shaun White Posts Farewell Message on Retirement After 2022 Winter Olympics
February 18, 2022
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White posted a farewell message Friday after his decorated career ended last week at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
White, 35, retired following the men's halfpipe at the Beijing Games, where he finished just off the podium in fourth place. In addition to his Olympic snowboarding success, he also captured 15 X Games gold medals between snowboarding and skateboarding.
The San Diego native captured his first Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Torino Games. He repeated the feat in 2010 and 2018.
His final Olympic run couldn't deliver a storybook ending as he fell while attempting his second trick, but the other competitors met him at the bottom of the run to congratulate him.
White got emotional during an interview with NBC's Randy Moss while saying goodbye to the sport:
NBC Olympics @NBCOlympics"I just want to thank everyone for watching. Everyone at home, thank you. Snowboarding, thank you. It's been the love of my life."<br><br>An emotional <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunwhite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShaunWhite</a> reflects on his career and his final run. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinterOlympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinterOlympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/dTSTX30o7f">pic.twitter.com/dTSTX30o7f</a>
His first X Games gold medal came in 2003 when he won the superpipe competition. He claimed the top spot on the podium in a skateboarding event at the X Games for the first time in 2007 in the vert.
Although his days as an active competitor are over, he's still planning to remain heavily involved in extreme sports through his company, Whitespace, and as a mentor to the next generation.
He told Rachel Axon of USA Today there's a good chance he'll be at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy in that new capacity.
"I don't want to beat these guys anymore. I want to sponsor them," White said. "Not to sign them or whatever, but to help their career, to help guide and my experiences and what I've learned. Even Scotty [James] and I were joking, and he was like, 'I think I'm going again.' I would be honored to get that phone call from whoever to support and be a part of this sport in any way that's given me so much."
White along with legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk, who he named in his farewell message as a "role model," have been the faces of extreme sports for the past few decades.
Now it's time for others, including Beijing gold medalists Chloe Kim and Ayumu Hirano, to carry the competitive torch into the future.