Shaun White Opens Up About Attending His First Winter Olympics Since Retiring: 'I'm Kind of Nervous'

Published: June 9, 2025

Shaun White, the three-time gold medalist, is feeling a mix of emotions as he prepares to attend his first Winter Olympics since retiring in 2022.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, White, 38, revealed that he's "kind of nervous" about attending the Olympics as a spectator, rather than a competitor.

White, who officially retired in 2022, will be attending the Games in Milan-Cortina, and is looking forward to "cheering for" his athletes competing in the Games.

However, he admitted that being on the other side of the fence will take some getting used to. "I don't know. I'm going to be on this side of the fence now cheering for these other athletes. I know there'll be fun, exciting things for me, but I'm sure there'll be some sort of nostalgic feelings going through and missing an element of what I used to do when I was in these situations," he told PEOPLE.

White made his Olympic debut when he was just 19 at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006 and took home a gold medal in the men's halfpipe event. He repeated for gold in the event at the next Winter Olympics, 2010's Vancouver Games.

During a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, White said he had planned to retire if he won gold at the 2014 Sochi Games. "But I ended up going home with no medals. I was ready to finish this whole journey and put a nice ribbon on it and walk away, and now here I am, not satisfied with the finish and still unmotivated to compete. What do I do now? And that was a really interesting turning point in my life, because what do you do in that kind of situation?"

That moment "haunted" White, he told PEOPLE, but he had a "big comeback" at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. There, he won gold once again, giving him the closure he needed to retire.

Follow PEOPLE for more updates on Shaun White and the Winter Olympics.