American snowboarder Shaun White has decided to only compete in one category with his U.S. Snowboarding Team this year.
Injury is part of the reason that the athlete prefers has opted out of all but the Halfpipe competition this year in Sochi. The 27 year-old athlete has said that he was concerned about unsafe conditions of the course. According to the Associated Press, White said in a statement that the potential risk of injury is a too much to gamble my other Olympic goals on.
White has a strong background and has taken home medals in the 2006 and 2010 Halfpipe titles. This year, he is not competing in Slopestyle. His team was quick to report the change in competition.
According to Reuters, the U.S. Snowboarding said in a statement on its website. "Olympic champion Shaun White announced late Wednesday Sochi time that he was withdrawing from slopestyle to keep his focus on winning an unprecedented third straight gold for Team USA in halfpipe."
Shaun White holds X-Games records for gold medals, and has won 10 ESPY Awards. The opening ceremonies for the Olympics in Sochi are scheduled for Friday.
Image: NBC