Shaun White, the world-famous snowboarder, called it a career on Thursday night, concluding decades of dominance with a halfpipe run at the 2022 Winter Olympics being held in Beijing. White became emotional as he gave an interview following his final Olympic run, where he finished fourth, just barely missing the podium.
Despite not being able to secure a medal at his fifth Olympic Games, Shaun White said he was proud of the sport that he said has been his life. The Olympian cried openly as NBC patched him through to his cheering family back home. He was overcome with emotion and unable to speak for several seconds before sharing the touching message.
I just want to thank everyone for watching. Everyone at home, thank you. Snowboarding, thank you. It’s been the love of my life.
Nobody can blame Shaun White for feeling such extreme emotions. The 35-year-old snowboarder secured his first sponsorship at just 7 years old and found more success than any athlete could dream of. In his five Olympic appearances, White has won three gold medals in the halfpipe (in the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Olympic Games), which is a world record. As far as his other accolades, White has collected 23 X-Games medals (between winter and summer competitions) and won 10 ESPY Awards.
The snowboarding superstar announced ahead of the 2022 Games that this would be his last competition. At 35-years-old, the athlete was dealing with lingering back, knee, and ankle injuries as he trained for Beijing, and he also battled COVID. Watch Shaun White give an emotional goodbye to the sport below:
"I just want to thank everyone for watching. Everyone at home, thank you. Snowboarding, thank you. It's been the love of my life."An emotional @ShaunWhite reflects on his career and his final run. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/dTSTX30o7fFebruary 11, 2022
Competitions may not be in the cards for Shaun White any longer, but I’m sure he’ll keep up with the sport for fun, especially considering that his girlfriend Nina Dobrev (of The Vampire Diaries fame) has shown on Instagram that she’s got some snowboarding chops herself.
The couple have been together since 2019, after they met at a Tony Robbins conference. Despite an ego-bruising first night out together, Shaun White and Nina Dobrev often post photos and videos together, and she is surely one of White’s biggest supporters now that he has wrapped up this huge chapter of his life.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics runs through February 20, and while many sports fans love to cheer for their countries (and even fan favorites from other nations), it can be a frustrating experience for fans of NBC’s regularly scheduled programming. NBC spoke out to assure fans of hits like This Is Us and the One Chicago shows (Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med) that the Olympics are not preventing any new episodes from airing. Even if the Olympics weren’t pre-empting the popular dramas, NBC would be airing reruns.
Now that Shaun White has officially retired, he can sit back with the rest of us and enjoy other athletes getting their chance on the global stage. Check out how to watch the Beijing Winter Olympics streaming with or without a Peacock Premium subscription.
