Shaun White.Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty
“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’sCraig Melvinin an interview filmed this week.
“No matter what, this is it?” asked Melvin, 42, in an excerpt of the interview shown Wednesday onToday.
The four-time Olympian confirmed: “I think so, yeah.”
White appeared emotional as he spoke about the prospect of leaving the sport for good in his interview with NBC.
Shaun White.Theo Wargo/Getty
“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 abad halfpipe crash, which he said had a greater impact on his body than it would have if he were younger.
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“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.”
source: people.com
