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Shaun White’s withdrawal from a key Olympic qualifying occasion got here after he skilled lingering COVID-19 signs, together with fatigue and shortness of breath, The Related Press has realized.
An individual conversant in White’s determination advised The AP that White’s withdrawal from Saturday evening’s U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain doesn’t influence his plans to compete in Beijing subsequent month. The individual requested anonymity as a result of White has not publicly disclosed the explanation for his withdrawal.
Final week, White revealed he had examined optimistic for COVID-19 in December however had been cleared to trip in Mammoth Mountain and was on the mend. White, who had bronchial asthma as a toddler, mentioned the virus was like “a lingering chilly.”
White joined champion skier Mikaela Shiffrin and skater Alysa Liu on the record of high-profile Olympic hopefuls to contract COVID-19 within the lead-up to the video games.
The U.S. workforce has till Jan. 21 to call the total snowboarding workforce. Just one man, Taylor Gold, has secured a spot, however coaches can award as much as three discretionary spots on the halfpipe workforce and White, a three-time Olympic gold medalist who’s ranked 14th on the planet, meets all of the situations to obtain one.
White went by the primary run of Saturday’s qualifying spherical and made it simply into the finals. However when the finals began. White was a no-show. U.S. coach Mike Jankowski mentioned White had aggravated an ankle damage, however the one who spoke to The AP mentioned White’s ankle was not a difficulty and it was COVID-19 signs that led him to name it an evening.
Jankowski didn’t instantly return telephone messages left by The AP.
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This marked the newest setback for the 35-year-old White, who’s hoping to compete in his fifth Olympics. On the Dew Tour in December, he was driving nicely, however a damaged binding throughout his first run within the closing threw a wrench in his plans and led to a seventh-place end. He had completed eighth in a separate qualifier the week earlier.
White additionally completed fourth final March in a delegated qualifying occasion, however has fallen wanting a podium end that might safe a spot underneath the U.S. Ski and Snowboard workforce’s “goal standards” for qualifying.
Regardless of the tough lead-up to the Olympics, It is exhausting to think about a situation through which the workforce would not give White a discretionary spot.
“(White) simply needs to coach and hold working exhausting and hold getting higher,” Jankowski mentioned Saturday evening. “He’s hoping the spot the place he’s at now holds strong and that he’s in a position to get the nomination to the workforce.”
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