“He Taught Me All My Tricks”- Resurfaced Video Shows a Young Shaun White Honing His Snowboarding Skills

Shaun White is one of the most legendary snowboarders and skateboarders of all time. Not only is he an X-Games phenom, but he is also an Olympic champion. White retired after the Beijing Winter Olympics, where he finished outside the podium ranks. While the decision did not come as a surprise given White’s age, it marks the end of an era.

White may not be a young athlete anymore, but there is an interview of young Shaun when he was just starting to become a snowboarding sensation.

Shaun White interviewed as a kid

The journey to becoming a legend has to start somewhere. For some, it starts a little later, while for others, it starts early. For Shaun White, it started early, at the age of 6, when Tony Hawk started training him. White would become the best in his sport and dominate his opponents in both disciplines.

White gave an interview as an 8-year-old about how he got into snowboarding. “My brother taught me how to go off the sides and get like big air and he taught me all my tricks,” said a young White. He went on to secure 11th place in the competition, aged just 8-year-old.

His father, Roger White, mentioned how Shaun White got into snowboarding in the first place. “We went to mammoth, and they had a van to the mountain and we took him there and they happened to have a little bitty board, a little bigger than a skateboard. He was six years old. We thought we’d give him a try. And he did so well people noticed him right away,” said Roger.

White became a global sensation soon enough and would go on to achieve extraordinary feats. The “Flying Tomato” also starred in the TV show ‘Vampire Diaries’.

White’s famed McTwist 1260

Before becoming an Olympic legend, Shaun White was an X Games superstar. There was rarely a moment when White gave his fans a reason to not cheer.

During the 2012 X Games, White was in search of a three-peat victory in the skateboarding event. To everyone’s surprise, White landed a McTwist 1260, the first-ever in competition, and landed the title with it as well. Incidentally, the same move helped him win Olympic gold.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Essentially Sports