Shaun White Tops The Twists At The 2010 Olympic Winter Games

Shaun White

Name: Shaun White
Age: 23
Sport: Snowboarding
Country: U.S.A.
WWW: www.shaunwhite.com

Snowboarder Shaun White is heading to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. In order to win the gold, Shaun's got a few new tricks up his sleeve - thanks to Red Bull and Red Bull Project X.

New Tricks For The Olympics: Red Bull Project X

Shaun White is one of the most amazing sports stars in the world today. An X Games double threat with medals in both snowboarding and skateboarding, as well as a gold medal from the 2006 Winter Olympics, Shaun's got insane skills and instantly-identifiable looks. That amazing combo's made him one of the most recognizable sports icons of his time, and at 23, he's only getting started.

In 2009 Shaun and Red Bull built a private halfpipe in a remote location where he could ride free of distractions, invent new tricks and take his riding to another level. They called it Red Bull Project X.

On a backcountry part of Silverton Mountain, Colorado, a 22-foot tall superpipe was built with 550 foot-long walls and a huge, 600 square-foot foam pit at the bottom. Red Bull Project X is a first-of-its-kind training facility, and halfpipe snowboarding will never be the same because of it.

The on-mountain foam pit gave Shaun the ability to make mistakes and test the limits without risking an injury. With it, Shaun was able to unlock the details of a trick key to snowboarding's next frontier: the frontside double cork 1080 (a trick that involves two off-axis flips).

Armed with his expanded bag of tricks, Shaun emerged at the Burton New Zealand Open in August '09 with back-to-back double cork variations, sealing the victory. Will he be able to do it again at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics? We'll have to watch and see.

For more on Shaun White, check out his bio and interview.