Snowboarding: Shaun White targets a fourth Olympic gold medal as the countdown to Beijing 2022 begins

Shaun White has officially confirmed that he is looking to qualify for the USA snowboard team for the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The Olympics are set to be held from February 4-20 with the men’s half-pipe finals on February 11. White is looking to become Olympic champion for the fourth time after picking up gold medals in 2006, 2010, and 2018.

The four-time Olympian would be aged 35 at the start of competition in China but White said that he was feeling confident ahead of the qualification process.

“It's so exciting. I can't believe we're even here doing this right now,” White said at the USA Media Summit on Tuesday (19 October).

“I've definitely got my eye on the prize for this one... but I will admit, it is getting harder."

Shaun White: X Games 2021

Shaun White’s return to competitive action had been highly anticipated at the X Games in Aspen earlier in 2021.

But a knee injury meant that he had to pull out.

"The body is definitely giving me little signs here and there that the age is a factor at times. I'll do probably less training days than others," White said.

"I don't really go for these crazy long days... I just show up and do every trick I can think of in my hour [to] hour and a half. And then I'm out."

Does Shaun White still skateboard?

Before his snowboarding career, Shaun White was a successful pro skateboarder. He was the first person to compete and win in the winter and summer X Games.

Skateboarding was included in the programme for Tokyo 2020 and White had been looking to qualify. Traditionally, he had more success in vert skating contests which wasn’t one of the eventual Olympic disciplines of park or street.

He took a chance at making the park team anyway and had some early success. Competition for the three US qualification spots was fierce and he didn’t end up qualifying. Heimana Reynolds, Cory Juneau, and Zion Wright were the USA’s Olympians in men's park skateboarding.

Who did Shaun White spend the pandemic with?

Shaun White confirmed on social media that he was dating Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev during the pandemic.

The actress gave White a hair cut when his usual stylist was not available.

Shaun White: The road to qualification

The U.S. snowboarding team will be announced on or before January 21, 2022.

In order to make the team, Shaun White will have to accumulate points to be in the FIS Points List. And also at the following half-pipe events (according to NBC):

• U.S. Grand Prix, Aspen, Colo., March 18-21, 2021
• U.S. Grand Prix, Copper Mountain, Colo., Dec. 9 and 11, 2021
• Dew Tour event, Copper Mountain, Colo., Dec. 16-18, 2021
• U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Jan. 6-8, 2022

A maximum of three rider from the USA will go to Beijing for the Olympic Games.