Shaun WHITE

Shaun White has become the best known snowboarder in the world, winning multiple titles, including halfpipe Olympic gold medals at Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and PyeongChang 2018. To do this he overcame a congenital heart disorder, tetralogy of Fallot (blue-baby syndrome), which required him to undergo two open-heart surgeries before he was a year old.

White has also been a mainstay at the Winter X Games, where he won an astonishing 13 titles all in superpipe and slopestyle.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, White needed to stage a mighty comeback in order to win gold. He was almost out of competition thanks to a 37.7 first run score. On his second run, he recorded a score of 45.3 before hitting 46.8 in the finals to win. His experience at the Vancouver 2010 Games couldn't have been more different. A 48.6 first run proved high enough to secure the win without a second run, which he turned into a victory lap.

In 2017, the USA shredder crashed on a superpipe in New Zealand while training for the upcoming PyeongChang Games and required 62 stitches. Despite the accident, he was able to recover in time, qualify and win gold with back-to-back 1440s just four months later.

He has long red hair, which led to the nickname “The Flying Tomato", and his talents extend well beyond the snow. The California native also competes in skateboarding, having won a full set of medals in vert at the X Games including gold medals in 2007 and 2011.

He is an icon among young snowboarders for his various tricks, huge air, and his free-spirit style. He also has his own Shaun White video game that has been released based on his tricks, and plays guitar in a band.