15-Year-Old Shaun White’s Strong Decision Against Peer Pressure Saved Him From a Huge Career Mistake

Snowboarding sensation Shaun White has always been in the highlights one way or another. Even after retiring from professional competitions, the multi-talented American has often been in the limelight because of his achievements. The expert athlete has won the most gold medals in the X Games and Winter Olympics in the snowboarding events.

With so many achievements, there will be stories that accompany them. And Shaun has an interesting one to share.

Shaun White talks about dealing with peer pressure

Starting early in his career, Shaun learned the importance of putting in hard work to achieve results. The youngest US champion ever had to deal with people much older and more experienced than him during the early days of his career. The snowboarder once told how he used the pressure and turned it into an advantage for him.

During an interview, Shaun re-told one of his most famous stories from the days when he competed as a teenager. “I was 15 years old. I flew to Japan to do this competition called Toyota Big Air. You had maybe three or four days of practice. I was paying out of my own travel to get the flights, to get the food, to get the hotel, and all those things.”

“And I remember sitting there and it’s game day. And we’re supposed to hit the jump, and everyone is complaining, which is like music to my ears.” Cutting the story short, Shaun said, “They all got together and said we’re gonna split the prize money for the competition.” Shaun did some quick math and figured it won’t even cover the flights once everything is split. So he said, “No, I want to compete.”

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He recalled how his peers sat there and hazed him. He stuck to his gut feeling and did not succumb to the pressure as he won the competition. At 15-years-old, Shaun won $50,000 and a brand new car. That’s the level Shaun operated at.

How Shaun turns pressure into his advantage

Expectations can often turn to pressure for a lot of athletes. But Shaun isn’t one of them. In fact, he says that he is thankful for the pressure. When everyone thinks he will win, he’s glad and assumes if everyone is saying it, they must be right.

Instead of getting weighed down by all the expectations, White considers it a blessing. He thinks it’s great to have people counting on him. It all leads to him thinking he can win it and that the goal is obtainable.

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This just goes to show the elite mentality that White has always had. It didn’t matter if he was 15 or 25; he was in it to win it.