Five Olympics. Three gold medals. Endless hairstyles. Thanks for the memories, Shaun White!
On Feb. 5, the U.S. athlete and world's most famous snowboarder officially announced he will be retiring from competitive snowboarding after the current 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
"This has all had its amazing glow to every single decision and every single competition because I've decided this will be my last Olympics," White said at the men's snowboard halfpipe press conference, held in the city of Zhangjiakou. "I've given it my all. There have been some ups and downs on the way to get here. But through all that, I feel I've got stronger and better."
The 35-year-old's final time competing begins in men's halfpipe Feb. 8 (11:35 p.m. E.T. on NBC and Peacock), with White attempting to become the first athlete in any sport at the Olympic Winter Games to win four gold medals in the same individual event.
So, obviously, we are going to cheer him on by looking back on all of his hairstyles over the years, his sometimes long red locks often raising heights as high as the slopes he's been shredding. And though he is currently rocking a shorter 'do—with girlfriend Nina Dobrev serving as his quarantine hairstylist—White seems to be contemplating a return to his old look, asking on Instagram, "What do you think? Should I grow it back out?"
To help him make that decision, let's look back on White's hair transformation since making his Olympics debut at the 2006 Games.
Did Shaun White have Bieber fever?!
"That one is pretty good," the three-time gold medalist said on Instagram of this look. "There's a bit of a flip happening, if you'll notice. It was like the Justin Bieber cross with the flip."
Though he was growing out his hair, White still favored the Bieber bangs with his curlier mane.
"It looks like a helmet of hair, " White said of the shaggy and straight cut he sported at the 2006 Winter Games. "It's like one piece. There are no curls!"
Ah, the style that sparked his "Flying Tomato" nickname—a moniker he'd just as soon leave in his past.
In order to remedy the plight he experienced four years earlier with the helmet hair, White found a simple solution: "I took my face mask and rolled it into a headband. Problem solved." Practical and stylish!
At a press conference ahead of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, a hat proved no match for the snowboarder's luscious locks.
"This was the year they all decided it would be a good idea if we all wore berets," White explained on Instagram. "And i don't think my hair was really read for the beret. I like the curls, just not the hat. You can't really do hats with that kind of hair."
An appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno marked a time period in which White began rocking facial hair.
"I think i was so excited I could finally grow a moustache," he admitted. "I was like, okay, today's the day!"
Just like on Game of Thrones, fans were surprised to see White rock a man bun at the ESPYs.
Later that year, White shocked the world when he decided to cut his hair, donating his famous locks to Locks of Love. In a video titled "Its Only Hair" posted to his YouTube channel, White said, "Somebody needs it more than I do."
"This was a great one because this was the first time I'd actually cut my hair short and realized I still had a face," White said of his trimmed 'do at the 2014 Games in Sochi. "It wasn't just covered by hair." White then revealed he didn't tell anyone he was going to cut his famous locks.
Noting that the haircut had eventually settled in, White explained he was going for the "pushback barber cut" style at this time.
White's hair was noticeably darker and slicked back with product at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, a far cry from the wild mane he wore at previous Olympics.
Like most people quarantining due to the Coronavirus pandemic, White decided to change things up, saying goodbye to his signature red hair in favor of a platinum blonde look that June.
"Shaun le blanc," he captioned an Instagram photo revealing his icy new 'do.
A few months later, White was back to his natural hair color, but opted for a fresh start by shaving his head. "2020 has changed me," he wrote on Instagram at the time.
For his fifth and final Olympics, White found the perfect balance of natural and styled, allowing his curls to shine.
(E!, NBC and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)