Pyeongchang Winter Olympics: Shaun White apologises for calling abuse claims ‘gossip’

Snowboarding great Shaun White brilliantly won his third Olympic gold but then faced awkward questions over sex claims on Wednesday as strong winds caused chaos at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. First dissing the allegations, White later apologised for calling them gossip.

According to a report in NBC’s Today show, White said, “I’m truly sorry that I chose the word ‘gossip’. It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today.”

White, starting last in the halfpipe, watched bronze medallist Scotty James wipe out before nailing a spectacular last run of the day to snatch victory from Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, celebrating wildly afterwards.

It was redemption for the 31-year-old veteran, known as the “Flying Tomato” because of his red hair, who won gold in 2006 and 2010 and helped put the hipster sport on the map, but flopped in Sochi four years ago.

“Oh man, that was awful and amazing at the same time. I knew I did a great ride and I was proud of that and I could walk away with my head high, but when they announced my score and I’d won, it crippled me,” said the American.

“I was so overwhelmed with happiness, I’ve been …read more