Who is Shaun White? What to know of Winter Olympics legend in 2026

Shaun White is still contributing to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics despite retiring from competition.

The legendary snowboarder and three-time American gold medalist is serving as an expert commentator on NBC for the Olympic Games in Italy, also contributing to the opening ceremony on Feb. 6 from San Siro Stadium in Milan. The five-time Olympian retired after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

White rose to prominence after he won the gold medal in the snowboarding half-pipe event at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics when he was 19 years old.

Here’s everything to know of White, who’s back at the Olympics, albeit in a different form:

Who is Shaun White?

White, one of the most recognizable extreme sports athletes in the world, is a five-time Olympian and three-time medalist, all of which are golds, which is the most by any Olympic snowboarder.

White also has the record for most X Games gold medals with 15. He has 23 total X Games medals, including five silvers and three bronze wins.

The 39-year-old retired after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where he failed to medal. The 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics are his first since ending his athletic career, and he said he’s focused on touring multiple different events to which he’s unaccustomed.

‘This is all an exciting time for me, from announcing and being a part of the Olympics in this new way,’ White told Olympics.com. ‘I am excited to take it all in. See the different events like ice skating, skiing, half pipe, big air, obviously snowboarding. I’m just going try to see everything honestly, that’s my goal.’

He also said he hopes to get Snoop Dogg on a snowboard.

‘I’m trying to get Snoop,’ White said. ‘Snoop on a snowboard is my goal. We need him on the board, and I’m going to try to do that.’

White is arguably as famous in American culture as he is as an athlete. He was the focus of two Shaun White snowboarding video games in 2009 and 2010, before a skateboarding Shaun White game released in 2011. He also had an exclusive clothing line at Target stores.

Is Shaun White competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics?

White is not competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics, as he retired from competition after the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

He is, however, on site at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics as an expert commentator with NBC. He was among the NBC color analysts for the opening ceremony on Feb. 6.

How many medals does Shaun White have?

White has three medals across five Olympic appearances, all of which are gold. He never won a silver or bronze medal, and all three of his gold medal wins came in the snowboard halfpipe event.

His first gold medal came at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, which he won at 19 years old. He repeated in the halfpipe event in 2010, taking home gold at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. He didn’t medal in Sochi in 2014 but responded with a gold medal win in 2018 in Pyeongchang after a historic final run put him atop the podium.

White said he nearly retired in the leadup to the 2018 Olympics after an injury in training, but eventually won gold with the trick that led to him being hospitalized in 2017.

‘(The third gold) was so hard to get,’ he told on TheToday Show in 2017. ‘On my way to that Olympics, I had this horrible accident where I ripped my face open, 62 stitches, pulmonary contusions, like I’m bleeding in my lungs.’

White didn’t medal in 2022 and retired after the Games.

Shaun White age

White is 39 years old, as he was born on Sept. 3, 1986. His first appearance at the Winter Olympics came in the 2006 Torino Olympic Games.