When Shaun White was a toddler, he was identified with Tetralogy of Fallot, a uncommon situation induced by a blend of four coronary heart flaws, which demanded him to have two surgical procedures in advance of he turned 1.
“I hid the simple fact that I experienced the coronary heart condition just mainly because I didn’t want . . . that to be the large tale to appear out of the Olympics,” he advised The Post forward of the July 6 release of his Max docuseries “Shaun White: The Past Operate.”
“But soon after my 2nd Olympics, I . . . talked about it. And then I obtained to listen to stories . . . and just these amazing letters and messages that came to me.
“Even Jimmy Kimmel referred to as and was like, ‘Hey, my son is going by way of several coronary heart surgical procedures and we were being in the medical center and the to start with identify they brought up was yours . . . it’s possible my son can have a opportunity to have a regular lifetime and not just ordinary, it could be amazing.’”
White, 36, grew up to turn into the GOAT of snowboarding, but retained his a few Olympic gold medals concealed absent.
“You won’t really see any trophies at my house,” he explained.
“It was a mental detail. . . .I was just type of on this mission and I didn’t want any reminders of good results all over me. I would just gain the trophy, set it away and just maintain heading mainly because it was extra about what’s following. It took me a good deal later on on in lifestyle to go, ‘Ok, let’s celebrate a bit.’”
The San Diego native started competing at 7 and was a millionaire by 15.
One of his purchases just after his initial Olympic acquire at 19 was a Lamborghini, which he quickly wrecked.
“My mates are like, ‘Let’s go get some food’ and I’m like, ‘Ok, I’ll conquer you there,’” he mentioned. “And I’m flying by my community … and I just hit this change and the car or truck spun and I hit 1 of the trees … It was a full thing. I finished up heading to driving school after that for the reason that they weren’t heading to give me insurance policies to get a new a single.”
White, who is also a former professional skateboarder, and retains the entire world record for the most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder, loves his lovers.
A person come across designed him tear up even though recounting it.
“Somebody messaged me and claimed … ‘You really necessarily mean a whole lot to us … our daughter was likely by way of a whole lot, she experienced this disease and we had been in the clinic with her and we watched the Olympics and we viewed you get. And she died soon immediately after and so you are form of the previous memory we have with her celebrating.’”
An additional recollection tends to make him laugh.
“I was pretty shy and I was anxious to chat to ladies at a youthful age … and at a specific position, I would get approached and I did not know what to do with it,” he stated.
“I was on my way to a opposition and I’m so laser-targeted on what I got to do … and a woman arrived up and she’s like, ‘We gotta cling out afterwards,’ and she threw her cell phone at me and I caught it and she will get whisked absent … and she’s like, ‘I’ll simply call you later.’”
There were other women collected, so he wound up procuring several telephones, right just before he was about to compete.
“I’m at the leading of the half pipe, I acquired these mobile telephones in my pocket,” he recalled, laughing.
Now that he’s retired, White, whose very last Olympic run was in 2022, might convey back his famed red mane, which he chopped off in 2012 — in particular considering that his girlfriend, actress Nina Dobrev, is into it.
“I did a business wherever they put a wig on me and I assumed it was humorous to wear it residence,” he said. “And she was kind of like, ‘Oh, good day, stranger.’”
