Shaun White Will Compete at World Skateboarding Championships

Shaun White said he'll be going to the world skateboarding championships in Brazil in September as he debates a Tokyo 2020 run in one of the Olympic's newest sports.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images

Shaun White said he'll be going to the world skateboarding championships in Brazil in September as he debates a Tokyo 2020 run in one of the Olympic's newest sports. 

"I’ve been watching the competitions lately and got really inspired," White said on the TODAY show on Tuesday. "I thought it would be amazing to go compete at the world championships in Brazil in September. … First steps are first, see what happens [before an Olympic decision]."

Olympian @shaunwhite is here, and he’s got a big announcement! pic.twitter.com/8YM2soZ9tc

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 23, 2019

White is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in the halfpipe in snowboarding and four-time Olympian. He hasn't competed in snowboarding since the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. 

The 32-year-old entered his first skateboarding contest in years in September, but he's a master of the sport winning five X Games skateboard medals between 2005 and 2011. But he won all of those in vert, which will not be an Olympic program. Instead, the two disciplines to medal in will be street and park. There will be only 20 spot per gender in each discipline, including one spot for the host country and three for the top three finishers at world championship events. 

White holds the record for the most X-Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder.