What kind of sport does Sean White do? Snowboarding! Any sports fan will answer this question. Charming red-haired snowboarder from America, nicknamed "Flying Tomato" - Sean White, the idol of millions. Not so long ago a film appeared about this famous man, telling about his difficult everyday life. If you are not ready to devote 45 minutes of your precious time to watching, but want to know everything about it and a little more, read this article!
Sean White: biography
Sean was born in Carlsbad, California. He might not have become a professional due to congenital heart disease, but the boy underwent two difficult operations, proving how important it is to fight for life.
Sean's first board was not a snowboard, but a surf, on which his father wanted to put his five-year-old son. True, this idea was unsuccessful, ended in failure and a broken nose. According to Sean White himself, the second attempt to get on the board was a couple of years later, but he still felt that he was not ready for this. The wave immediately swept over him, he began to choke and swallowed water. But now that the snowboarder Sean White has reached tremendous heights and achieved dizzying sporting successes, he has increasingly begun to catch ocean waves.
Skateboarding
It should be noted that with the light hand of his elder brother, the future champion learned to ride a skateboard and even several times took part in the X-games, where in different years he earned medals of various denominations: from gold to bronze. In skateboarding, Tony Hawke became his teacher , whom young Sean met in the park. The student soon surpassed his mentor. Sean is the only person to win gold at X games in various disciplines in the same year. In 2007, he became the champion of the Dew Tour, but because of the Olympics in Vancouver, he had to take a break from classes.
Sean White Snowboarding
No matter how Sean loves skateboards and surfboards, his main hobby, and now his profession, is snowboarding. This sport was included in the program of the Games not so long ago, but was already able to gain wild popularity. This year, slopestyle was included in the Olympics.
Sean's parents were obsessed with the idea of snowboarding so much that they allowed their son to skip classes, as long as he trained. The first place Sean White began to practice was Bear Mountain in Southern California. There he trained from the age of 13.
At age 16, he began to win first awards at the X-Games - extreme competitions in no less extreme sports. And for the first time he appeared on the scene of snowboarding at the age of 11. In the same year, he starred in the film of the notorious Terrier Haakonsen.
Sean recalls that when he won the first major competition, he realized that he could provide for his family. At that time, his mother was a waitress, and his father worked in the city service, so this money was a good help. He began to receive awards while still in school. Sean said that he was always a shy child, but after the competition, he fell in popularity, and everyone wanted to be friends with him, so he chose his friends very carefully.
In just 3 months, Sean White took part in 12 competitions, each of which won! This is truly unbelievable! Among these victories was a gold medal at the Olympics in hot Turin in 2006, where in the final White was able to score 46.8 points out of 50 possible. Of course, the legends of snowboarding also won often, but not one of them could achieve such results as this young man.
Sean notes that he is madly worried when he loses. He can win at the Olympics, but on the same day lose in a friendly game of cards and survive the whole evening. He feels amazing feelings when he realizes that people believe in him. Sean recalls that he even had a friend who constantly bet on him in competitions, and had to win so as not to let him down.
Until 2010, the victory at the Turin Olympics was the main achievement of the snowboarder. But in Vancouver, he proved his superiority: the leading position remained with him, and he received his second Olympic gold. According to the results of the study, the performance of Flying Tomato at this Olympics was watched by more than 3 million viewers in the USA. We think the comments here are superfluous.
Preparing for the 2014 Olympics
In 2013, the athlete for the first time missed the X-games, preparing for the Olympics in Sochi. This decision was not accidental at all and pursued one main goal - two medals at the Games. He also missed the X-Games in 2014 in preparation for the Olympics.
Separately, it is worth telling the story of White getting into the Olympic team. At the qualifying competitions, he received a slight injury, and in the first attempt did not score the required number of points. Some doubted whether White could get into the national team. But he gathered all his will into a fist and knocked out a ticket to the Olympics, although he lost the leading position at the qualifying starts. I must say that luck did not smile at the young American, and he took only 4 place at the Olympic Games.
Hobbies
In his free time from snowboarding, to the surprise of many, Sean White plays the guitar well in the band "Bad Things". Despite the fact that the team exists recently, this is not White's advertising project, and he is not a key figure here. In January 2013, the band released their first album. It is easy to guess who became the fans of this team.
Charity
Sean White devotes free time to charity. Here, the matter does not end with donations. In 2012, he gives his luxurious head of hair to a foundation that produces wigs for children with serious illnesses.
Sean White, whose photo you see in this article, is a very popular snowboarder. In addition to participating in competitions, he is known for a series of computer games, roles in films, covers of famous magazines. Sean White realizes that snowboarding is not only a spectacular sport, but also a great start to a business.