Skateboarding Versus Snowboarding: The Legend Shaun White Opines

TOPSHOT - US' three-time Olympic gold medalist freestyle snowboarder Shaun White during a practice session at the World Park Skateboarding Championship in Sao Paulo on September 9, 2019. - White has decided to professionally compete in Skateboarding after a successful career as a snowboarder. The championship will be qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where Skateboarding will feature for the first time as an event. (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA / AFP) (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images)

Visit mchezo.life for more information.

AFP via Getty Images

Skateboarding will become an official permanent addition to the Olympic sports portfolio in 2028 at Los Angeles, though it had been featured sporadically in previous Games. Its sister snowboarding, on the other hand, has been a permanent Olympic fixture since the 1990s.

Not surprisingly, many boarders practice both disciplines. Take Shaun White, a three-time Olympic Gold medalist in snowboarding. He had also skateboarded early on, when he first started out.

We caught up with White, recently named a Barbie Kenbassador doll, to discuss the snowboard and the skateboard - and the differences. Following are edited excerpts from a longer conversation.

Jim Clash: What’s the difference from your perspective between snowboarding and skateboarding? I know you’ve done both, and at a high level.

Shaun White: Well, I went pro in snowboarding at 13 and in skateboarding at 16, living this dual competitive life. All winter I’d compete in snowboarding, then summers in skateboarding, a revolving door if you will.

The main difference between the two is that skateboarding is a lot more technical. The board can fly away if your foot isn’t in that exact spot when you try to catch it. But if you can’t get back on the board, you can always land on your feet and run.

With snowboarding, you are committed. If you’re going for a 90-ft jump, you’re going on that 90-ft jump [laughs]. You can’t just say, “I’ll run out of this.” The board is attached to your feet, and that creates a lot more consistency.

When I first started snowboarding after all my skateboarding it was like, the board is going to stay on my feet [laughs]. The two complement each other, though. Snowboarding has the size, and skateboarding the technical.

PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 14: Shaun White of the United States celebrates after his third run during the Snowboard Men's Halfpipe Final on day five of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics at Phoenix Snow Park on February 14, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Clash: Why did you ultimately focus on snowboarding?

White: Well, for nine years I was almost the best at both. But skateboarding didn’t get as much limelight as snowboarding. There was no Olympics for skateboarding at the time. I can’t imagine if I were born in this era where I could compete in both snow and skate at the Olympics. That would have been just the craziest.

Clash: You mentioned Tony Hawk earlier, the legend skateboarder, and hanging with him as a kid. What did he teach you?

White: Yes, he was always at the park where I skated. Trick-wise, there was a lot he taught me. There were other boarders there too, like Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek that I learned tricks from. But Tony was at his peak, pretty famous. I watched him interact with fans. He was the same guy through and through with his success and on the financial side.

So I was experiencing through him all that I was about to go through at my first Olympics. The way he stayed a normal guy taught me a lot. He would stop and sign autographs, make time for family. He didn’t get all full of himself, and never forgot where he came from. Being around that really rubbed off on me and helped me as I got more well-known.

FORBES | By Jim Clash
The ‘Flying Tomato’ Is Now A Barbie Kenbassador Doll. Imagine ThatFORBES | By Jim Clash
The 2028 Olympics Will Include Skate-Boarding. Z-Flex Aims To Be There

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Read full story at source