Rival says Shaun White pulled out of slopestyle competition because he's 'scared'

SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- After American snowboarder Shaun White pulled out of the Olympic slopestyle competition on Wednesday, one of his rivals from Canada tweeted out that White was leaving the competition because he was “scared.”

“Shaun knows he won't be able to win the slopes, thats why he pulled out. He's scared!” Canadian snowboarder Maxence Parrot wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.

White previously won two gold medals in the halfpipe event. He later called the slopestyle course “intimidating.” It’s understandable given that Norway’s Torstein Horgmo broke his collarbone while practicing on the course on Monday.

"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 forgo 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 a part of."

Another Canadian snowboarder, Sebastien Toutant, also questioned why White was leaving the competition on Twitter. “Mr. White… It's easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can't win…” Toutant wrote in a tweet that has been deleted.

Parrot apparently had second thoughts and apologized for mocking White.

[Sports Illustrated] [USA TODAY]