Shaun White failed to qualify for the 15-man semifinals in his first skateboard contest in years and his first ever in the bowl format. The three-time Olympic halfpipe champion is considering a Tokyo 2020 run in the new Summer Olympic sport.
White competed at a Red Bull event in Marseille on Saturday. Highlights are here.
“I did pretty terrible but was slightly expecting that for my first bowl contest ever,” was posted on White’s social media. “Gotta start somewhere, and I’m excited for the next comp [in Sweden this week].”
White, who turned 32 on Monday, has said for years he was intrigued by Olympic skateboarding, which was added to the Games program two years ago.
White earned five X Games skateboard medals between 2005 and 2011, but all of those came in vert, which is not on the Olympic program.
If White makes a 2020 Olympic run, it will likely come in park (similar to bowl) rather than street, the other Olympic event.
“Honestly, I am here to see how things go,” White said in Marseille, according to Agence France-Presse. “I haven’t made a decision either way [on 2020], I just figured, want to have some fun, skateboard, come to France and then hopefully make a decision come new year if I’m really going to go for it or not.”
The U.S. can qualify a maximum of three men and three women per Olympic skateboarding event. Olympic qualifying is in 2019 and 2020.
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