By USSA and Wire Reports

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia — Olympic champion Shaun White, who rides for Northstar, announced late Wednesday Sochi time that he was withdrawing from slopestyle to keep his focus on winning an unprecedented third straight gold in halfpipe.

White fell and jammed his left wrist in a training run on the slopestyle course. Afterward he called the course “a little intimidating.”

Torstein Horgmo of Norway, who was one of the favorites coming into the Olympics, broke his collarbone on a training ride. After White got hurt, Marika Enne of Finland had to be taken off the course in a stretcher because she fell hard and sustained a concussion.

Slopestyle snowboarding will make its Olympic debut with qualification runs Thursday and the men’s finals opening the Games on Saturday.

“After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA. The difficult decision to forgo slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of,” White said.

Halfpipe snowboarding competition is set for Tuesday at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.

White is the two-time defending champion in halfpipe. Training begins Saturday for Tuesday’s men’s halfpipe finals.