Shaun White Biography
Summary
"Shaun Roger White" (born September 3, 1986 in Carlsbad, California), is an American athlete. He has been a notable competitor in professional snowboarding since he was twelve years old.
White stands 5' 8.5' (1.73 m) tall. He rides regular stance, twelve and negative three degrees on his board. He is known for his shock of red hair, for which he has become known as 'The Flying Tomato'. Addressing his perception of the nickname, "Rolling Stone" magazine wrote, 'he used to embrace it, even wearing headbands with a flying-tomato logo, but he has grown tired of it.'
Early in his career he was also known as 'The Egg' & 'Future Boy' as everyone knew he had promise, but just hadn't grown enough to boost airs as big as the older competitors.
Early life
White was born with a congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot, and had two cardiac surgeries before the age of 5. White's older brother, Jesse, got into skateboarding at the nearby Encinitas YMCA, which housed many vert ramps. Eager to follow, Shaun also learned how to skateboard.
White first began snowboarding at the age of 4. He went to June Mountain in California with his family. His older brother tried his hand at snowboarding. Again, Shaun soon followed, but was told that he was too fat to take snowboarding lessons. In order to slow Shaun down, his mother told him that he could only board 'backwards', also known as fakie or switch. This potentially furthered his career by forcing him to practice at both boarding methods.
Snowboarding career
White soon gained sponsorship from Burton after his mother phoned them to see if they had a board small enough for her 6-year-old son. Today, his sponsors include Burton, as well as Oakley, T-mobile, R.E.D., Volcom, Birdhouse Skateboards, Ricta, Park City Resort, Target, Red Bull, Transworld Snowboarding, Adio, Sony, Mountain Dew, HP, and American Express.
White has been a participant in the winter X Games, where he has medaled every year since 2002. Including all winter X Games competitions through 2007, his medal count stands at 11 (7 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), including the first four-peat winner by a male athlete in one discipline, the snowboard slopestyle. White's quest for a five-peat Gold in 2007 was spoiled by Andreas Wiig (Gold) and Jussi Oksanen (Silver), with White taking the bronze. At the conclusion of the 2007 Winter X Games, White also stood as one of three athletes who have won a leading six gold medals in their total Winter X competitive history. He has also won the Air & Style Contest in 2003 and 2004.
White also earned a gold medal in the men's halfpipe while representing the United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He scored a 46.8 out of 50 on his first run. The score was not beaten by any other boarder in the first or second run, ensuring him the gold before his final run.
White had a dramatic win at the 25th Annual Burton US Open, March 13-18th, 2007 at Stratton Mountain in Vermont, USA. There he placed third in slopestlyle and first in the halfpipe. White was defending champion of the Open, as he had overcome several years of injuries and other problems to finally win the event in 2006 for the first time.
At the 2007 Open, White was also crowned the first 'Male Burton Global Open Champion'.
His take for the event was $100,000 (Global Open Champ), $20,000 (1st Place Halfpipe), $5,000 (3rd Place Slopestyle), and a new Volvo.
Skateboarding career
Shaun has been working with Tony Hawk since an early age and derives his inspiration from him and many other vert skaters. Hawk first met with Shaun at the age of nine while snowboarding, and mentored him at the Encinitas YMCA Skate Park, close to both of their family homes in neighboring Carlsbad.
Shaun went pro in 2003 at the age of 16, and won his first pro contest in 2002 at the Panasonic Open in Louisville, KY (the 1st stop of the Dew Action Sports Tour). He also won a silver medal for the men's vert in the 2005 Summer X Games.
At the 2005 and 2006 X Games, Shaun attempted the 1080 (3 full rotations, half a rotation more than a 900). He is the only skater to attempt the trick in competition, but has yet to land it.
At the 2007 Summer X Games, Shaun won his first Summer X Games gold medal in vert (skateboard).
Achievements and recognition
Shaun remains the only skater to land the bodyvarial frontside 540.
Shaun White was the first to land a Cab 7 Melon Grab in vert skateboarding.
He was named the "Chairman of the Board" on the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards on June 13, 2007. (... more)
The only pro snowboarder named the flying tomato
External links
(Snowboardermag.com) , includes exclusive interviews and video clips of Shaun White
(Official site of "The White Album") , includes clips and movie info
(Shaun White's U.S. Olympic Team bio) with notes, quotes, photos
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Shaun White.
