Does Shaun White Get A Pass For Pulling Out Of Event? [POLL]

With the 2014 Winter Games underway, much of the talk this week has been about Snowboarder Shaun White.  Does he deserve the negative feedback?

There is no doubt Shaun White has grown up and matured a bit.  However, Shaun White is still Shaun White and probably always will be.  Can't knock a guy for being proud of being the best at what he does.  But there in lies the rub with many athletes.

White doesn't lose much but when he does, he's not very gracious about it and that is well documented within the community he competes with, worldwide.  Recently, White pulled out of the new Snowslope competition stating that he didn't want to jeopardize his chance at winning a 3rd Gold in the Halfpipe competition.

While it is a fact that the Slopestyle course is not easy and many have had some bad wrecks, including White, they all requested during practice runs they wanted the course re-worked to slow it down a bit.  White however, said it wasn't worth the risk and he needed to concentrate on winning that 3rd Gold in the halfpipe. As you can imagine, his decision was not well received by the other athletes.

Most say that he pulled out because he knew he couldn't win the event (and he wouldn't have) and was just being the Shaun White that most athletes know. The world loves the guy, the athletes, not so much. Jealousy? Maybe some. But the biggest issue with them is that an athlete in this sport should be just that. A snowboarder should want to compete in any and all snowboarding events but not White.  He only wants to compete in something he knows he can win and not take a chance at losing an event.

How do you fee about it?  Should he have manned up and tried the Slopestyle competition and be the athlete he says he is or should he get a pass for only wanting to compete in a gimme event.