Shaun White's coach J.J. Thomas on snowboard legend: “It was really a once in a lifetime"

The end of an era – even an expected one – is never easy.

“[The halfpipe final] was pretty emotional for us because we knew it was the last time he was going to be in the ring and we were going to be sweating bullets like that,” J.J. Thomas, who has coached three-time Olympic gold medallist Shaun White the past six years, told Olympics.com during an exclusive interview.

Knowing that White’s career would likely end after these Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 has been in the back of Thomas’ mind throughout the season.

“We’ve been pretty emotional really all season,” he said. “It wasn't even just today, it was the whole build-up for the year. We're like, ‘There's the last Dew Tour, the last World Cup.’”

It’s tough to put a career like White’s in perspective. It’s stretched long enough that Thomas, a halfpipe bronze medallist himself at Salt Lake City 2002, started coaching him six years ago.

“We kind of grew up together in a sense. I saw him when he was eight years old, when he was learning and he was a kid watching us. I'm five years older, and then, he grew up and started beating all of us,” recounted Thomas. “And then I retired, I started coaching. And then it just kind of worked out where I started coaching him about six years ago

“The rest is history, you know, we did Korea together, we did here,” he continued, “and this is kind of the exclamation point today, it's done and it's crazy.”

That history has shown Thomas and the world the kind of competitor he is.

“He's a performer, he thrives under pressure, and that's really the difference. People who thrive under pressure excel in sports, people who don't: they get pushed out fast. It's just that simple,” said Thomas, who has seen White’s clutch performances