Shaun White, getting super stoked in Vancouver. photo: AP Photo
Some might take this as proof that snowboarding is ‘dying’. Debatable. But, Shaun White did announce his retirement from the sport to focus on his music career.
Shaun White’s informal retirement announcement posted to his facebook page.
The announcement came in a facebook post saying that Shaun White is changing gears to focus on music. He did say that his roots remain in the ‘sports side of things’. After dominating halfpipe snowboarding for years this is somewhat surprising. No doubt this announcement and shift of focus are related to his results from Sochi, where he failed to medal.
With Shaun White gone, who will all the haters rally around? Hard to say, since nobody has approached his level of domination or public fame and prevalence from snowboarding. All things aside, Shaun has been entertaining to watch, whether trying new halfpipe tricks or making headlines for his off-hill antics.
The closest comparison for skiers would be if Tanner Hall suddenly announced he wasn’t going to ski any more and focus on his reggae career. Unlikely, but just imagine that for a minute…
It wasn’t because he was so good at halfpipe that other riders ‘hated’ on him…