""I got all pumped up. I was like, that looks good," he says. "That feels good. That old feeling, it calls me. It doesn't go away.""
""When I focus on what I'm not doing, I miss competing," White says. "But when I focus on what I am doing, I'm inspired. I still feel the glow of the career I had.""
""It's been an internal war," he says."
Shaun White stands in a hotel room in Snowmass Village, Colorado, studying himself in all-black snowboard gear and a competition bib with an American flag. At 39, he feels a resurgence of competitive energy upon seeing the bib, yet he will not compete; he will take a ceremonial Buttermilk Mountain halfpipe run to open the March 2025 contest. He has spent three years disentangling his identity from judges, medals and cheering sections. He recognizes that returning to full training could place him among the nation's best, but he fears sacrificing the personal growth achieved since retirement. He has faced similar crossroads throughout his career.
Read at ESPN.com
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