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Canadian snowboarder calls Shaun White 'scared' for pulling out of slopestyle

Shaun White, 27, will try for a third straight gold medal on the halfpipe. (Alberto Pizzoli/Getty Images)

Shaun White (Alberto Pizzoli/Getty Images)

Shaun White pulled out of the Olympic slopestyle competition on Wednesday after he jammed his wrist on a practice run one day earlier on a course he later called "intimidating."

White was among the favorites for the event. He will still compete on the halfpipe, an event in which he's won the last two gold medals.

Said White in a statement to the "Today" show: ''The potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympic goals on.''

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Two of his Canadian rivals — Max Parrot and Sebastien Toutant — don't see it that way.

The 19-year-old Parrot, who was the 2014 X Games gold medalist in slopestyle, said White pulled out of the event because he knew he couldn't win and was "scared" in a tweet that was later deleted.

Toutant, 21, the 2011 and 2013 winner in slopestyle at the X Games, said in a tweet, "Mr. White... It's easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can't win..."

Parrot later apologized for causing a stir.

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