Beijing Olympics: Three-time gold medallist Shaun White heading for fifth games after making US snowboarding team
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Updated 22/01/2022 at 13:02 GMT
After some disappointing qualifying results and a bout with Covid-19, the American star did enough at a recent event in Switzerland to earn a spot in Beijing. The 35-year-old snowboarding icon says he's now 'focused on training smarter, not harder' as he prepares for his fifth Winter Games.
Shaun White's first Snowboard Halfpipe run at Laax World Cup event
After some setbacks in qualifying and a bout with Covid-19, snowboarding legend Shaun White can relax.
White has been officially selected to the US team for the Beijing Olympics, giving him a shot at a fourth gold medal in his fifth Winter Games -- and giving Beijing a major star attraction in the form of the 35-year-old winter sports icon.
White missed the finals of the last American qualifying event for Beijing in Mammoth Mountain after injuring his ankle in a hard landing in his qualifying heat. That meant he had to go to Switzerland to try to seal a spot on the US team at the Laax Open. He finished third in that event, which was enough to earn him a ticket to Beijing.
He also tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, but is expected to be fully fit for the Olympics, which start on February 4.
“Hopefully the worst is behind me at this point,” white told Olympics.com. ''I had asthma as a kid and I have a heart condition. So you know, anything to do with lungs and respiratory is not so great and it's just been like this lingering cold.
“I’ve got another month (until the Winter Olympics). So let's hope there's not long-term effects.”
White won his first halfpipe gold medal in Turin in 2006 and repeated as champion in 2010. After finishing fourth in Sochi in 2014 he collected a third gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang.
"Every Olympics is different—how I went into Italy was so different from Pyeongchang," White said. "Right now I'm focused on training smarter, not harder. I’m listening to my body and knowing when to push and when to pull back."
The other three members of the US snowboarding team are Red Gerard, Chloe Kim and Jamie Anderson.
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