Shaun White has mastered the snowboard halfpipe at the Olympics. He has given up on trying to do the same in the new slopestyle event before the Sochi Games have even begun.
White announced Wednesday that he was dropping out of the inaugural slopestyle competition and focusing on the halfpipe, the event in which he is favored to win a third consecutive gold medal. He was not considered a strong gold medal contender in slopestyle.
"The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly, as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of," White said in a statement released on the "Today" show.
White jammed a wrist in training on Tuesday, but said it was "blown out of proportion" and that he was feeling healthy earlier Wednesday. He skipped slopestyle training on Wednesday.
"I'm feeling healthy," White said in a news conference before announcing his withdrawal. "In snowboarding you get bumps and bruises all the time."
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