Behind Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods, Shaun White Sees Himself as One of the GOATs

Three-time Olympic champion Shaun White became a sensation in the snowboarding circuit from a very young age. A master of the slopes, he won five national titles in the amateur circuit and turned professional at age 13. White is not just an epic snowboarder but also a champion skateboarder.

He became the first athlete to participate in both the Summer and Winter editions of the X Games, earning a record 15 gold medals in all. He has been sponsored from age seven and mentored by Tony Hawk. But where does he put himself on the list of the greatest athletes?

Shaun White would pick himself for the athletes’ Mount Rushmore

Shaun White did an AMA with the Bleacher Report in 2020 while preparing for what would be his last Olympic run in Beijing in 2022. Here, a fan asked him if he belonged on the Mt. Rushmore of athletic GOATs. And if not, who his top picks would be for the same.

“I’m not a self-promoter, so I don’t know if I’d put myself in there. Part of being a competitor, you always think you can do better, like a musician leaving the studio,” the snowboarder responded. “It’s not done. You want to keep growing and continuing to do more.”

It seems as if he had to put himself in the top four, however, he’d be amongst good company. “I’m proud of what I’ve done, but… I’d say, Ali, Jordan, Tiger Woods, and then myself. Just fill it out,” he concluded. Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods are indubitably the greatest in not just their sports but as athletes.

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With White’s history of a single-minded pursuit for greatness, his position beside those names isn’t entirely off the mark.

White accomplished a lot in his career

Dominating both the Winter and Summer X Games, Shaun White has a $10 million a year payout from endorsements, unheard of for the relatively less popular field of extreme sports. For over two decades, he dazzled the world with his snowboarding skills before it all came to an end in 2022.

White wanted to defend his Olympic title in Vancouver in 2010 with his signature move, the Double McTwist 1260. The trick required two flips and 3½ spins and he was saving it for his final run. But by the time it came around, he had already secured gold. Still, he landed the trick to punctuate what was essentially a victory lap.

Moreover, his third Olympic gold came as an astonishing comeback. He had established his prowess with the six-year streak of X Games golds in the halfpipe. But after a disappointing season and a lost chance at the podium in the previous Olympics, White hadn’t won the favor for gold in Pyeongchang 2018.

But in his final run, he landed back-to-back double cork 1440s, two off-axis flips with four spins, including the version he crashed on. He bagged his third Olympic gold. Consequently, White cemented himself as the greatest competitive snowboarder in history.

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