Rekindled fire: Shaun White rediscovers his love for snowboarding
Mark ZeiglerShaun White is wearing three rings on his right hand.
One is from the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy. Engraved on it is, “Olympic gold medalist.”
One is from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. It also says, “Olympic gold medalist.”
The other is from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. It says, “Olympic team member.”
“I didn’t really wear the Sochi ring for a while,” said White, whose quest for a third gold medal in snowboarding’s halfpipe ended in fourth place in 2014. “I was slightly ashamed of Sochi. But you know what, now I wear the ring. I was an Olympian, I was proud of being there and doing my thing. How many people get to go to the Olympics? And then how many people get to go multiple times?”
You can watch video of White flying off the halfpipe at a U.S. Olympic qualifier last month in Colorado and completing four twisting revolutions 40 feet above the ground to understand the state of his career at age 31. You can look at his perfect 100 score from the judges. You can hear his coach talk about White’s steeled focus and “killer instinct,” how “he’s a man on a mission.”
Or you can look at his right hand. He’s wearing the Sochi ring.
Of all White’s obstacles to return to a fourth Olympics – an ankle that required surgery; a grisly crash last fall in New Zealand that required him to be airlifted off the mountain, 62 stitches in his face and five days in ICU; a lawsuit (ultimately settled) with a female drummer in his rock band that turned ugly with graphic sexual harassment allegations; a slew of young riders taking the sport to unseen heights; an awkward rift with other U.S. snowboards – the greatest was inside his head. It was not an image or words, but a single character:
?
...GO SHAUN !
