X Games Aspen Research Update for January 22, 2021 Say What? (All quotes provided directly to X Games researchers unless otherwise noted.) Shaun White, on being the oldest athlete scheduled to compete at X Games Aspen 2021 (34): “It’s surreal to be at any competition and instead of, ‘The youngest competitor, Shaun White,’ now it’s, ‘And the oldest competitor is...’ I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, did I hear that right? There’s got to be someone older! Where’d everyone go?’ It’s become new motivation that I’m the age I am, still doing it, feeling great, wanting to compete, still motivated and doing the heavy tricks.” And snowboarder Anna Gasser, on her expectations in Aspen: “There is no favorite anymore. Anyone could take the win this year. And with this whole coronavirus situation, I don’t know what the other girls have been doing in training because we haven’t seen each other. Aspen is going to be this big reveal where we find out what everyone’s been doing for eight months.” SNOWBOARD Return of the GOAT No need to check IDs: Shaun White’s X Games career is now 21 years old. When White returns to X Games Aspen 2021, he’ll be the oldest athlete competing at the event: 34 yrs., 4 mos. Back at the turn of the century, White was the youngest overall athlete in each of his first three X Games appearances (2000-2002). White first arrived at XG Mount Snow a 13-year-old covered in freckles, weighing just 80 pounds. But his first X Games memory is even earlier. “You should find the footage of when I foreran the pipe at Snow Summit in 1997,” he suggests. “That was my intro to X Games. Pauly Shore was there, and they had these crazy events like shovel racing, downhill snow mountain biking, ice wall climbing...it was nuts! It’s come a long way since then. It’s been a big part of my career and I’m proud to have been a part of the X Games all along.” White hasn’t earned an X Games medal since winning Snowboard SuperPipe at Aspen 2013, yet he remains the all-time gold medal leader in both overall and winter discipline counts. There’s also a chance that White could move up the overall X Games medal standings. Most X Games Medals All-Time Count Last Medal Year Bob Burnquist 30 2015 Dave Mirra 24 2009 Shaun White* 23 2013 Andy Macdonald 23 2013 Pierre-Luc Gagnon 21 2015 Most X Games Gold All-Time Count Sport Shaun White* 15 13 SBD, 2 SKB Jamie Bestwick 14 BMX Bob Burnquist 14 Skateboard Dave Mirra 14 BMX Nyjah Huston 13 Skateboard Garrett Reynolds 13 BMX *Competing at X Games Aspen 2021 White last competed at X Games at Aspen 2017. His last medal was the aforementioned SuperPipe gold at XG Aspen 2013, but his return has everybody in the field paying attention. He’s the best to ever do it. White owns the most X Games gold (8) and most medals (10) in the SuperPipe discipline. He won an incredible 6 straight gold in the discipline between 2008-Aspen 2013. He has similarly dominated elsewhere, with 7 Burton U.S. Open wins, 3 Olympic gold medals from 4 appearances and 6 FIS World Cup victories, among other accolades. A legitimate gold medal contender even after an eight-year X Games medal gap and two years when he hardly snowboarded at all? Yep. The youngest gold medalist in Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe history (16), any medal at Aspen 2021 would make him the oldest to podium. “It had been a minute,” he says of his break from snowboarding. “I did the Olympics, crossed that marathon finish line, then took a moment to myself to be with friends and family.” The moment turned into a couple of years; he didn’t get back in the pipe until March 2020, when he poached the Burton U.S. Open pipe. “I did a little bit of riding around the U.S. Open,” White says. “Did a couple days of warmup at Mammoth and Vail because Jake had passed, and we were going to do some tribute runs for him. I was pleased to find it was still there for me. I got really excited about it again.” • DOB: 09/03/1986. Age: 34. • Aspen 2021 will be his 25th X Games appearance. 23 medals total (15 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze) from 37 competition starts since 2000. • White last competed at XG in 2017. “I’m excited to be snowboarding. It doesn’t really feel like coming back, it’s more of a continuation of what I’ve always done, but now with real breaks that help me find some balance in life. I’m so happy X Games stepped up and is making it happen during this crazy time in the world.” • White’s first gold medal came at X Games Aspen 2002, the first year the event was held in its now long-time home. He’ll be the only athlete at Aspen 2021 who also competed at the initial X Games Aspen. • Now 34, he’ll be the oldest athlete competing at XG Aspen 2021. “It’s very surreal to be at any competition and instead of, ‘The youngest competitor, Shaun White,’ now it’s, ‘And the oldest competitor is...’ I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, did I hear that right? There’s got to be someone older! Where’d everyone go?’ It’s become new motivation that I’m the age I am, still doing it, feeling great, wanting to compete, still motivated and doing the heavy tricks.” • He admits to feeling his age a bit. “There’s this thing that people talk about that I never really listened to when I was younger, that it’s the creaks that get you. ‘That little back spasm is really bugging me,’ or ‘I kind of jammed my wrist yesterday.’ But for the most part, to be honest, I’m really stronger than I’ve ever been physically and mentally. I’m in a better headspace than the previous couple of years.” • Watching Scotty James win consecutive X Games gold medals in 2019 and 2020 helped motivate his return. “I’m not blind to it. I’ve definitely been keeping note. Scotty’s solid!” • On his two-year break from snowboarding: “I need that time for myself now more than ever to just take a breather. I hate saying that as advice to younger riders because that wasn’t me years ago, that’s me today. Years ago, I was like my friend Toby Miller: He’s there every single day riding or thinking about riding. I remember being in that same headspace for so long, but it doesn’t work for me anymore to motivate that way.” • Shaun has mentored Miller since 2012 and now sees the 20-year-old as a gold medal threat in Aspen. “It’s kind of like getting a baby tiger. You're like, ‘Oh my god, it’s so cute!’ And then all of a sudden it becomes a big tiger and it’s, ‘What do we do with this thing?’ I've been proud to shift into that role and be that for him when he needs it -- somebody who's been through it all. I never really thought I would be in that position.” • Mental wellness is a new favorite topic, and he talks publicly about it on the speaking circuit and in the recent HBO documentary The Weight of Gold. “There’s so much you sacrifice as a pro athlete. I’d put things on hold, set things aside, and just assume winning would fix problems I had in my life. But success doesn’t just breed happiness. It doesn’t make your relationships with your family any better. It doesn’t make your girlfriend like you more. It doesn’t change these things. I really took a look at that part of my life and I’ve been working on myself a lot.” • “Now I understand that mental wellness is exercise. You have to work at it, like anything.” • Instagram: @shaunwhite, 1.4 million followers. That’s the biggest IG reach of any competitor at XG Aspen 2021, but quite a bit shy of his girlfriend Nina Dobrev’s 21.8 million: @nina. The actress is best known for her role on The Vampire Diaries. Go Go Gasser Anna Gasser refused to change her mind even when she knew it could cost her. The triple underflip simply had to be done. Or so she told herself. At Aspen 2020, all expectations -- her own, mostly -- were that she would attempt to become the first woman to land a triple in competition. And she did attempt it. And tried it again. And again. Gasser nearly landed a Cab triple underflip in her first run, sitting down gently on the landing. But she slammed hard on two of three subsequent attempts and never got it right. She showed heart and courage, but she didn’t achieve her goal. Her last place finish in Women’s Snowboard Big Air at Aspen was a lesson learned. At X Games Norway 2020, she scrapped the idea of a triple and landed runs that better fit the jam competition format. She won her third career X Games Big Air gold. “I had it in my head that I wanted to show it, and I felt pretty ready to show it,” Gasser says of the triple at Aspen 2020.