Over the years there have been several new athletes ready to give a shot at the X-Games competition. Sure these are great athletes but what everyone wants to see is a new style. Who knew that Shaun White would be perfect for the job?
Shaun White was born in San Diego, California in 1986. As a small child, he went through surgery due to a heart defect before he was a year old. This obviously was a very, terrifying situation for his family. Surprisingly, he showed that this definitely didn’t affect him as he began to grow older. He began his interest in extreme sports such as snowboarding and skateboarding at a very young age.
He grew up with an amazing family of five. They were his mom Cathy, his dad Roger, his sister Kari and his brother Jesse. As he grew older his family began to take him up on the mountain slopes to learn to how to snowboard. Jesse instructed Shaun to do everything she did while cruising down the slopes. Shaun did just that, except he had a strong, intense urge to go faster.
At age seven Shaun won his first amateur snowboard contest earning him an entry to the Nationals and ended up placing in the top ten. Shortly afterward, his mother sent video of Shaun to Burton Sports Company and they were so impressed by Shaun’s amazing talent, they willingly offered him a sponsorship deal. Because of this he became pro at age 13.
At age sixteen, Shaun, skilled and determined, was able to achieve his first Winter X-Games gold medal. Now Shaun holds 16 X-Games medals in his possession. I wonder how he’s able to act so bravely and compete. The strange thing is, Shaun love competing. These are his thoughts about it,” You know the best thing about competition? There’s this whole strategy game, and when it all works out it’s like solving that hard math question. You finally get the answer and you’re so happy. Whenever I’m at the top of the hill and I know I only have one more run, I don’t back off, I get stoked by it. When some guy does a really hard trick and my run is right after, you know I’m going to go higher” (Glock par.14).
Although he has truly amazing talent, you can’t win them all. In 2002 he narrowly failed to make the Winter Olympics lineup. He missed his place by three tenths of a point. Afterward he managed to redeem himself by going undefeated with 12 victories and becoming the only athlete to sweep the Five-event Grand Prix series. He then qualified for the Winter X-Games. When he competed, he dominated the half pipe competition earning him forever lasting fame and a gold medal.
Meanwhile, while Shaun was worshiped as a snowboarding prodigy he was becoming known for his skateboarding as well. When Shaun was 9, legendary skateboarder, Tony Hawk discovered him at a local skate park and decided to mentor him, helping him become a pro skateboarder at age 17. In 2003, he was noted as the only athlete to compete and medal in both summer and winter X-Games with two different sports.
Not only is Shaun an extremely talented athlete, he is a businessman also. He has partnered with companies such as Target and created his own clothing line of affordable, T-shirts, jeans, shoes and much more. In 2008 he partnered with electronic company, Ubisoft, to launch his new snowboarding game entitled, Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. This game sold over 3,000,000 copies and was clearly a worldwide success.
Over the years as this athletes fortune grows larger, he still finds time to do what counts. Although he has a very hectic schedule, Shaun supports the Tony Hawk foundation, make-a-wish foundation, supports other children with heart defects by Heart gift foundation and always looks out for family and friends. Overall, Shaun White is truly an amazing person.