Prior to officially dropping out there had been much speculation regarding the course that he'd be riding on. At Tuesday's practice White said, “I’d have to say, there is some truth to it (that the course is dangerous),there’s a bit of danger anytime you step out on one of these courses … This one may have a little more than others."
At 2:30 p.m. local time, White and his U.S. snowboard halfpipe teammates met with the media in a pre-competition news conference and unsurprisingly, majority of questions were fielded by two-time defending halfpipe champion White, the lone U.S. athlete competing in both halfpipe and slopestyle competitions in SoChi.
At first, all questions asked were regarding slopestyle, a winter sporting event where the goal is to perform the most difficult tricks while getting the highest amplitude off jumps. The size and safety of the slopestyle course had been a major topic of international discussion over the past few days and while White didn't shy away from the questions, he didn't tip his hand, either.
"There are definitely concerns about the course," White said regarding its design. "It's been interesting to see how it's developed and changed over the past few days, and the question is if it will continue to change." He continued.
As the conference continued, White was asked about how he would deal with his schedule on Saturday where he would have competed in both the slopestyle semifinals and finals on the same day as the first halfpipe practice. He half-answered the question by talking in circles and saying he was still "mulling over what to do."
His decision was apparent when the next day after the conference White released a statement through one of his publicists to the NBC "Today" show which stated that he would be dropping out of slopestyle.
White's full statement read: "After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA. The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being a part of. However, with the practice runs I have taken, even after course modifications and watching fellow athletes get hurt, the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympic goals on."
While White has chosen to back out of the competition, others such as women's favorite Jamie Anderson have said, "It’s a playground, that’s for sure. This course is a bit more challenging than other courses. (But) this is the Olympics. It should be the most challenging, huge course we’ve ever ridden.”
U.S. rider Sage Kotsenburg said regarding the course, “I think the media blew it up more than it should have been, It’s a sick course (in a positive, snowboarding kind of way), and these guys did a really good job on this one.”
Regardless of dropping out, we wish nothing but the best for all those over in SoChi during these 2014 Olympic games and hope to see them bring the gold back to the U.S.!
Follow Brittnye Webb-Earl on Twitter @BeeNoelle
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Shaun White Drops Out of Slopestyle Competition Right Before SoChi Olympics Start Amidst Safety Concerns Updated at :
8:09 AM
Thursday, February 6, 2014
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