There are not many athletes that can say they changed their sport for the better.
However, five-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White definitely has that claim to fame. And now his influence will be illustrated, with the release of the new Shaun White documentary series.
Available on streaming service HBO Max (which will require a VPN for Australians at this stage, unfortunately), the four-part docu-series Shaun White: The Last Run shows the snowboarding great’s rise from his humble upbringing near San Diego in California, to his most recent and final Winter Olympics in 2022.
White’s successes at the elite level has resulted in becoming one of the most recognisable figures in the world of Olympics, winning gold at the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Winter Olympic games.
The half-pipe legend’s pursuit of greatness pushed the sport into a new direction in the early 2000s, from being all about friendly competition to something that athletes can make a living out of. Each episode of the Shaun White documentary series is set to detail exactly that, along with the further impact he’s had on the sport whilst detailing his final trip to the Olympics in Beijing.
With this exciting series out now, here’s everything you need to know about the new Shaun White documentary.
When is the Shaun White documentary available to watch?
Released July 6, 2023
The Shaun White documentary, ‘Shaun White: The Last Run’, was released July 6 on HBO Max — it’s been released.
Shaun White documentary trailer
Watch it here:
It joins a growing list of sports documentaries available on HBO Max, including the highly popular Hard Knocks series which follows a different NFL team training camp and the preseason each year.
How can I watch the Shaun White documentary?
HBO Max
The highly anticipated Shaun White documentary series is exclusively available on HBO Max which since June 2023 has changed its name to MAX.
Unfortunately for Australians, HBO Max is unavailable in the country and requires a VPN in order to watch – click here for more info on how to set this up.
HBO Max offers plans starting for $9.99 per month, with ad-free plan costing slightly more for those watchers that can’t wait to watch the next episode, plus the cost of a VPN subscription.
What is the Shaun White documentary about?
The four-part docu-series follows the more than two decades of Shaun White’s incredible career, from his three Olympic gold medals to his final performance at the pinnacle of the sport in 2022. The docu-series will be four one-hour episodes.
‘Shaun White: The Last Run’ features moments such as his decision to create a living out of snowboarding to begin with, with homemade footage taken that is intertwined with interviews to tell the stories.
Even for people who have followed White’s journey to become an all-time great, there’s new ups and downs to witness, mainly his risk taking decisions within the sport up close and personal.
The Shaun White documentary covers the somewhat dirty feeling snowboarders felt riding for big money instead of the traditional focus on having fun and making friends.
White’s ability to lift the sport to new heights pushed other riders to follow suit such as 2022 Beijing gold medalist Ayumu Hirano who is interviewed in the docu-series explaining how White changed his life by doing so.
Reports are that the Shaun White documentary series keeps you in the action just like if you were watching his performances for the first time.
The antagonist of the documentary is not an opponent but rather the ‘triple cork’ – an incredibly difficult and dangerous three-head-over-heels trick.
The trick was a central part of White’s training for eight years before another rider landed it in a contest. White acknowledged that his career and life was on the line attempting the ‘triple cork‘.
When speaking on why his docu-series shines more light on the trick shot he never landed instead of the other amazing tricks he invented, White said it is the reflection of where the sport is now.
“That’s what the current riders were doing and that’s where we are today”, White said.
“I thought it was important that they (the documentary’s producers) threw back to like, ‘Hey, look, I tired this ages ago’, but the sport didn’t shift that way.”
The story of Shaun White is not as well known abroad as it is in his home country and is well worth watching to see how one person changed a sport forever.
