In 2002, a 15-year-old Shaun White was beaten out for the last halfpipe spot on the U.S. Olympic team by J.J. Thomas.
Now, White is going for his fourth Olympics with Thomas as his new coach. The path to PyeongChang continues at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., this week on NBC, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.
“It’s funny how life goes around,” White joked.
In 2002, Thomas edged White in the fifth and final Salt Lake City Olympic qualifying contest to keep White from becoming the youngest American to compete in a Winter Olympics since 1992 (and younger than any American to compete in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Olympics, too).