'This is, I think, my last run' - Snowboarding legend Shaun White set to bow out at Beijing 2022

ByHarry Latham Coyle

Updated 15/12/2021 at 18:30 GMT

White is a three-time Olympic gold medallist and has been the face of American snowboarding for more than a decade. He is hoping to make his fifth Winter Olympics by qualifying for Beijing, and has admitted that "it is getting harder" to get up after crashing. The 35-year-old has won thirteen gold medals at the Winter X Games.

Three-time Olympic champion Shaun White is set to retire from snowboarding after the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

The American is hoping to make his fifth appearance at the Games, but has previously left the door open to continuing to compete beyond the event.

However White has now confirmed that he intends to retire from a sport he became the face of, admitting that it was a difficult decision.

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"This is, I think, my last run," White told

.

“It’s hard to talk about because my whole life I’ve kind of been looked at as somewhat superhuman, because I do these things (in the halfpipe)."

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"I’ve prided myself on being that individual. And, man, realizing and admitting to myself and everyone else, 'yeah, I’m human' – it’s taken a toll."

In addition to his halfpipe Olympic triumphs, won in 2006, 2010 and 2018, White has tallied 13 golds at the Winter X Games, and has also competed in skateboarding.

The 35-year-old will head to Beijing, if he makes the American team, as the defending champion, having so dramatically and spectacularly snatched victory from Japan's Ayumu Hirano in Pyeongchang.

White finished eighth at the U.S. Grand Prix in Colorado last weekend, behind compatriots Taylor Gold and Chase Josey (fifth and sixth, respectively) in the first Olympic halfpipe qualifying event for the season.

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He will hope to further press his claim for a spot at Beijing 2022 with a strong showing at the Dew Tour event, which begins this weekend and is also in Colorado.

The Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin on February 4, 2022.

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