Olympics: Snowboard champion White out of slopestyle

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia - Reigning halfpipe champion Shaun White pulled out of a bid for double gold on Wednesday, with the US Olympic team announcing he would not be competing in the slopestyle competition.

White, 27, who won the halfpipe at the 2006 Turin Games and retained his title in Vancouver, had been planning the demanding challenge of doubling up.

But moments after giving a press conference at which he suggested he was looking forward to the challenge, the US Olympic team tweeted that he was pulling out of his secondary event.

"Developing story: @shaun-white to pull out of slopestyle competition. More to come. #TeamUSA #Sochi2014" said the US team on Twitter.

White on Tuesday expressed concerns about the slopestyle course following a crash on Monday that saw Norwegian medal contender Torstein Horgmo break his collarbone.

"After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA," White said in a statement.

"The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of."