Shaun White intends to enter the halfpipe and slopestyle competitions at the second Olympic selection event in Copper Mountain, Colo., this week, one of his representatives said.
White, the two-time reigning Olympic halfpipe champion, was questionable after suffering an ankle injury in a crash in the Dew Tour halfpipe final in Breckenridge on Saturday. He pulled out of the slopestyle final Sunday.
White, 27, sprained his left ankle in the crash, according to his social media accounts, four months after suffering a right ankle injury in training in New Zealand.
White said in November that he deals with “creaky ankles.”
U.S. Snowboarding said White has picked up a competition bib for Copper Mountain. The public relations director at Shaun White Enterprises said he intends to compete in both halfpipe and slopestyle.
The Copper Mountain Grand Prix is key for White because he doesn’t have the necessary International Ski Federation (FIS) points in slopestyle to qualify for the Sochi Olympics yet.
Copper Mountain is the single Olympic selection of the five-event series that doubles as an FIS World Cup event, meaning White can pick up the necessary FIS points this week if he competes.
If White doesn’t compete in Copper Mountain, he would have to travel to Stoneham, Quebec, in January for an FIS World Cup that takes place at the same time as the final Olympic selection event in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
Not that White needs to compete in Olympic selection events. The U.S. Olympic qualification procedures leave room for a discretionary selection to the team outside of the qualifiers based on Olympic selection standings. Olympic selection standings are based on athletes’ top two results over the five selection events.
In Copper Mountain, halfpipe qualifying is Wednesday, slopestyle qualifying is Thursday, the halfpipe final is Saturday and the slopestyle final is Sunday.
NBCSN will have coverage of action from Copper Mountain on Saturday from 2-3 p.m. ET. NBC will have coverage on Sunday from 2-4 ET.