Shortly after the news broke that Shaun White had pulled out of Olympic slopestyle, riders took to social media and threw in their two roubles.
Even before Shaun made his decision, some riders had refuted reports that the course was overly dangerous or improperly built. His American teammate Sage Kotsenburg was one of those giving it a bit of ‘dry your eyes’:
“We hear the sochi course is dangerous”yea X Games is all lollipops and unicorns the whole way down we aren’t used to dangerous courses haha
— sage kotsenburg (@sagekotsenburg) February 4, 2014
Still, Mr. White decided today that the risk of injury was apparently too high. Canada‘s Seb Toots weighed in with the (admittedly popular) suggestion that Shaun didn’t want to play anymore when it became clear he wouldn’t be competitive:
Mr. White… It’s easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can’t win… — Sebastien Toutant (@SebToots) February 5, 2014
It was a sentiment shared by another top Canuck, X Games winner Max Parrot (who has since deleted his tweet):
Shaun knows he won’t be able to win the slopes, thats why he pulled out. He’s scared! — Maxence Parrot (@MaxParrot) February 5, 2014
Shaun’s compatriot and fellow Olympic medallist Scotty Lago was more supportive, implying that he had the ginger ninja pegged for a top-three finish in slopestyle:
Shaun drops out of slope in Sochi! The podium just opened up a tiny bit — Scotty Lago (@scottylago) February 5, 2014
Then Sage weighed in again, we’re assuming with reference to Shaun-gate:
— sage kotsenburg (@sagekotsenburg) February 5, 2014
Veteran X Games commentator Sal Masekela tried to look at things slightly more from Shaun’s perspective, it seems:
Not surprised that Shaun White has dropped from Slopestyle. In my opinion a successful 3rd gold medal in pipe cements his legacy. — Sal Masekela (@SalMasekela) February 5, 2014
Meanwhile the BBC’s Ed Leigh suggested that the Quebecois twosome of Toots and Parrot may be on to something, while also showing some sympathy for the Yank who’s place Shaun has used up (Kyle Mack, to be precise). Ed’s fellow commentator Tim Warwood agreed:
Shaun W pulls out of slopestyle, did the ultimate competitor realise he couldn’t win and quit? Someone in the US will be livid missing out. — Ed Leigh (@SnowEdLeigh) February 5, 2014
UNBELIEVABLE: Shaun White pulls out of slope! Looked shonky all practice & knew he couldn’t win! Shame for the American who could have rode! — TIM WARWOOD (@Tim_Warwood) February 5, 2014
Danny Davis, never the biggest fan of Shaun’s, couldn’t resist twisting the knife a little on Instagram:
Nothing from Mark McMorris so far – perhaps the famous Canadian politeness has finally kicked in? And Kyle hasn’t commented either… yet. We’ll sign off with some wisdom from the brilliant Todd Richards:
Wah, it’s not perfect enough. Give me a break, my Olympics were held in a monsoonal rainstorm. #sun #snow #whinecheesecrackers
— toddrichards (@btoddrichards) February 5, 2014
“@SebToots: Mr. White… It’s easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can’t win…” The poo, she be flingn’
— toddrichards (@btoddrichards) February 5, 2014
“@MaxParrot: Shaun knows he won’t be able to win the slopes, thats why he pulled out. He’s scared!” Tabernac !
— toddrichards (@btoddrichards) February 5, 2014
