Shaun White‘s return to the Winter X Games ended before he could take his first competition run in nearly three years.
White tweaked one of his knees in practice in the week leading up to Sunday night’s snowboard halfpipe final in Aspen, Colo.
“After talking with the medical staff, decided that pushing through would only make things worse,” was posted on White’s Instagram about four hours before the contest. “It’s a difficult decision to make, but just need to give my knee some time to recover and I’ll be back soon.”
White, 34, last competed in snowboarding at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, taking his third gold medal.