Shaun White Confirms 2022 Beijing Olympics Will Be His Last: 'It's Hard to Talk About'

The three-time Olympic gold medalist announced the end of his Olympic career in an interview with NBC's Craig Melvin

By

Published on December 15, 2021 02:59 PM

Trending Videos

Shaun White says the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing will be his last.

"I haven't really said this too much, so it's going to feel weird coming out of my mouth — but this is, I think, my last run," the 35-year-old snowboarder told NBC's Craig Melvin in an interview filmed this week.

"No matter what, this is it?" asked Melvin, 42, in an excerpt of the interview shown Wednesday on Today.

The four-time Olympian confirmed: "I think so, yeah."

Throughout his career, White has collected a trio of gold medals for the halfpipe in 2006, 2010 and most recently at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang. He currently holds the record for most Olympic gold medals earned by a snowboarder in history with three.

White, who first competed in the Olympics at age 19 in 2006, is also the most decorated athlete in X Games history with 18 medals, 13 of which are gold.

White appeared emotional as he spoke about the prospect of leaving the sport for good in his interview with NBC.

"It's hard to talk about because my whole life I've kind of been looked at as somewhat superhuman because I do these things," White told Melvin about his career in snowboarding.

He added, "I've prided myself on being that individual. And, man, realizing and admitting to myself and everyone else, 'Yeah, I'm human.' It's taken a toll."

In October, White said at a Team USA media summit that he had recently suffered from a bad halfpipe crash, which he said had a greater impact on his body than it would have if he were younger.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"I will admit, it is getting harder," the athlete said at the time. "The day in and day out and the grind of doing these tricks."

That said, his love for snowboarding still remains. "It's such an interesting sport," he said. "It's one of the only sports in the world where you can kind of create something and be the best. So we'll see what happens in the next few months leading up to the games, but I am very excited to be in the running for it."

The 2022 Winter Games will air on NBC and Peacock beginning in February.