Shaun White preparing for a shot at Olympic history

The message that Shaun White tweeted was short and succinct.

“It’s official.”

The famed snowboarder, who has made the U.S. team headed for the 2014 Sochi Games, now has a chance to burnish his already impressive Olympic resume.

White will look to win an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal in the short history of the Olympic halfpipe and will also compete in the slopestyle event, which is making its debut in Russia next month.

White is already the only man to have won the halfpipe twice. Philipp Schoch of Switzerland has won two golds in the parallel giant slalom.

U.S. snowboarding officials named 12 athletes to the men’s and women’s halfpipe and slopestyle teams on Sunday:

Greg Bretz, Danny Davis, Taylor Gold and White will compete in halfpipe, as will Kelly Clark, Kaitlyn Farrington, Arielle Gold and Hannah Teter.

The slopestyle riders are Sage Kotsenburg, Chas Guldemond and White for the men; Jamie Anderson and Ty Walker for the women. More names could be added in this event.

“We saw some amazing performances by these riders,” Mike Jankowski, the U.S. head coach, said after four days of qualifying at Mammoth Mountain. “We’re taking an outstanding team to Sochi that’s ready to bring home those medals.”

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