Shaun White has decided to pull out of the men's slopestyle event at the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. In a statement to his fans on Facebook, White said, "I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA." This surprising announcement from White came just days after Norwegian Snowborder Torstein Horgmo broke his collarbone while practicing on the course and had to drop out of the games. Finland's Marika Enne hit her head during a traning session and had to be taken away on a stretcher. White himself suffered a minor injury on the course, jamming his wrist, but he insisted that it was not a big deal. "I think it was blown out of proportion a little bit, about my wrist the other day in the slope course," he said at a news press conference on Wednesday just before he announced his decision to pull out of the event. 

"The potential injury risk is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympic goals on," White said in his statement to the media. The slopestyle event is a new addition to the Winter Olympics this year and there will be no Team USA replacement for White in the event. There had been some concerns with the course in the last few days. White reportedly called the course "intimidating" and it was modified after there were multiple complaints from athletes about the safety of the course. "It's been interesting to see how its changed and developed over the past few days," White said at the press conference. White's biggest concern at that time was whether or not the course "will continue to change." 

White won the gold in the halfpipe event at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, as well as the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. He was not expected to medal in the slopestyle event and is once again a strong contender for the gold in the halfpipe event. 

Reach Staff Writer Giulia Sagramoso here.