Shaun White Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About The 2018 Olympics Gold Medalist Snowboarder

Shaun Roger White, born on September 3, 1986, is an American snowboarder, skateboarder, and musician. White is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. He also holds the record for the most number of X-Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals won by a snowboarder. He has won 10 ESPY Awards. He recently participated at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Born in San Diego, California, White was not a normal child like most of us. He was born with a Tetralogy of Fallot which is a congenital heart defect. He had to undergo two open-heart operations before the age of one. But this did not stop him from getting into sports. Since a child, White loved sports and spent his early formative years riding in the Okemo Mountain and Bear Mountain which are small ski resorts in Southern California. Shaun White can successfully land a triple cork in a half-pipe. But to achieve this stunt was not easy and to master this move, he had had to practice a lot. At the age of 13, he was named as 'Future Boy' and rightly though, he managed to raise the bar of snowboarding.

As a child, Shaun White never thought that his passion would one day take him to compete professionally. As a skateboarder, he drew considerable praise from his local people and his life changed when professional skateboarder Tony Hawk noticed him. Hawk not only befriended the 9-year-old White but also mentored him. By the age of 17, White became a pro in Skateboarding and moved on further to win many titles as a skateboarder including the title of Action Sports Tour Champion. White was also the first in the league to compete in and win both the Winter X and Summer X Games in two different categories. Growing up, White's interest shifted from skateboarding to snowboarding. His elder brother Jesse White was a snowboarder too. He got his first sponsorship in the sport at the age of 6. White has competed in four Winter Olympics in his career so far including the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 Olympic Winter Games. At the 2006, 2010, and 2018 Winter Olympics, White won gold medals in the snowboard half-pipe event. On November 16, 2008, White launched his first video game Shaun White Snowboarding in North America. Shaun White Snowboarding quickly became the 20th best-selling game of December 2008 in the United States. In the February month of 2009, White won the FIS World Cup Men's Half-pipe event at Vancouver's Cypress Mountain. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Shaun White won a gold medal in the half-pipe. At Winter X Games, Shaun White became the first person in the history of Winter X Games to score a perfect 100 score in the men's Snowboard Superpipe. White continued to shine through his career and won his 6th consecutive Super-Pipe victory, making him the second participant ever to win. White finished at the fourth place at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in the Half-pipe event. While in New Zealand, training for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, White landed himself into a serious injury after crashing into the edge of a super-pipe. The injuries were very serious and required 62 stitches. He was qualified for the 2018 US Olympic Team to compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. He proved his worth by winning his third Olympic gold medal for the Men's Half-pipe event with a score of 97.75. His gold medal was the 100th gold medal for the United States at the Winter Olympic Games. The Future Boy made his country proud. Shaun White holds the record for earning the highest score in the men's half-pipe event at the Winter Olympics.

The Future Boy's athletic achievements can be summed up into 5 points: 1. White was the first athlete to compete and win a medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games. 2. White is the first snowboarder ever to land back to back double corks, at the Red Bull super-pipe event. 3. Shaun White is to date the only skater to land the frontside heel-flip 540 body varial. 4. He is the first snowboarder to win back-to-back gold medals in the Winter X-Games Super-pipe. 5. He is the only person to date to have won both a Summer and Winter Dew Cup.

White has made many other career choices apart from athletics. He had a sponsor since he was just 7 years old. He later signed for the CAA sports after his long career with the IMG for eight years. He has also done a couple of corporate endorsements for Burton Snowboards, Oakley, Inc., Park City Mountain Resort, Birdhouse Skateboards, Red Bull, Target Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Ubisoft, and Adio. Shaun White has featured as a character in the Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder game and also in the video games Shaun White Snowboarding and Shaun White Skateboarding. The video games became a hot seller in the U.S. and helped him rake in $9 million, which considerably adds to his net worth. Shaun White also had a brief stint in acting. He made a cameo appearance in the 2011 film 'Friends with Benefits' where he portrayed himself. He also appeared in the 2013 episode 'Da Flippity Flop' from the animated series 'American Dad!' and also made an appearance in the 2014 Disney Channel movie 'Cloud 9'. The athlete is also a musician. Shaun White plays guitar in the electronic rock band 'Bad Things.' The band performed in one of the four Saturday headlining slots at the 2013 Lollapalooza festival. Their self-titled debut album was released in January 2014. But this was just the start of his career as a musician. In October 2013, Shaun White featured in the music video for "City of Angels" by Thirty Seconds to Mars. Shaun White is a very successful athlete who has given many media appearances. His first published interview came in Transworld Snowboarding Magazine in 2003. Shaun White appeared in the 2004 documentary 'The White Album' and then later in the 2005 Snowboarding documentary 'First Descent.' White also appeared on the E! Reality Tv Show 'The Girls Next Door' in the role of a snowboarding teacher for Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. He also appeared in a film, Don't Look Down, which has been released on DVD and ESPN. The film follows his journey through the year following his Olympic success. He appeared on the cover of 'The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition'. White made an appearance as a guest on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' on March 2, 2010. While on the show, he recalled the story of how his mother had his first Olympic gold medal dry cleaned. White later made an appearance on the January 16, 2011 episode of 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' to help redesign a room for an eight-year-old boy. Shaun White featured in the Nickelodeon Tv Series 'Henry Danger' in 2018 in the episode 'Toon in for Danger.'

Shaun White has sported long red hair for quite some time and as a result, was nicknamed 'The Flying Tomato.' In 2006, The Rolling Stone magazine quoted, "he used to embrace it, even wearing headbands with a flying-tomato logo, but he has grown tired of it." He was even nicknamed as 'The Animal.' 'The animal' was a reference to a character from The Muppet Show. White said in an interview that he preferred to be called as 'The animal' because he feels that he resembles the drummer from the Muppet Show. He also joked at the interview saying that 'The Flying tomato' was now dead in the water and Shaun 'The Animal' White has surfaced. White has continually increased the stakes ahead of the Olympics with his tricks at Half-Pipe. In 2009, Red Bull had specially built a half-pipe for Shaun White out of natural snow. Shaun White was once arrested in 2012 for public intoxication and vandalism. He had just attended the wedding party of the drummer Patrick Carney of 'The Black Keys' White is currently in a relationship with Sarah Barthel of the musical band 'Phantogram.' They have been dating since 2013. White was also once caught up in a sexual harassment case. Drummer Lena Zawaideh from the band 'Bad Things' sued White in 2016 on sexual harassment grounds. According to the sexual harassment allegations, White used to send the drummer sexually explicit matter on the phone. They eventually settled the sexual harassment case in an out-of-court agreement in 2017. In a press conference after White's win at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, he was asked whether he was concerned about the lawsuit tarnishing his image — to which he replied that the incident was gossip. His reply angered the audience, and he later apologized for his choice of words. Once when asked about his views on skateboarding and snowboarding, the legend was quoted saying, "Skating and snowboarding have taught me about life. I’ve been around the world and haven’t seen all of it, but a lot of crazy places. You see how life is and how different and how hard it is for a lot of people. You see some crazy things out there. It’s just made me happy. I feel super blessed to be doing what I’m doing right now. Everyone I meet is like, “I wish I could do that.” It’s given me a crazy appreciation for what I have."

Olympian Shaun White has had a super successful career in Snowboarding. He has made a considerable net worth for himself through his brand endorsements, athletic performances, a brief career in acting and also a musician. White is the wealthiest athlete of the U.S. Olympians who competed in the winter games this year. He has a net worth of $40 million. Rightly titled as the 'Future Boy,' White has changed the future of snowboarding, and he continues to raise the bar.

The defending Olympic champion, Shaun White, has revolutionized the snowboarding sport with his very difficult tricks on the halfpipe. He continues to increase the bar of his tricks. A definite asset to the snowboarding world, Shaun White has made himself and his country proud.