Shaun White confirms he will compete in X Games Aspen

Shaun White will participate in the slopestyle event in Sochi next month. (Gabe LHeureux/Getty Images)

Eight-time superpipe and five-time slopestyle gold medalist Shaun White confirmed to organizers of X Games Aspen on Tuesday that despite initial reports he would miss the event, he will in fact compete .

According to the ESPN report on Tuesday, White is expected to compete in the slopestyle competition and will likely be in the final at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the superpipe final at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

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White had initially decided to skip the X Games in an effort to rest before competing in the Winter Olympics in Russia next month, but he told ESPN on Tuesday that going to Aspen will be useful:

"It’s a tough balance. I really want to get a lot of practice in before the Olympics but I am also much more motivated to give my best run in a competition and I'm excited to go out and do that at X Games."

Last week, the 27-year-old 13-time Winter X Games champion took a hard fall at Mammoth Mountain in Northern California for the Olympic qualifier in slopestyle snowboarding.

White will be on the U.S. Olympic halfpipe team as well as the team to compete in slopestyle, a sport that's making its Olympic debut in Sochi in February.

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