Canadians continue to hammer White

[February 07, 2014]  By Philip O'Connor

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) — The light-hearted Canadian assault on halfpipe favorite Shaun White continued on Friday as extreme sport's biggest name was reduced to "who's he?" status.

American White withdrew from the slopestlye competition citing safety concerns, which led some Canadian rivals to accuse him on Twitter of pulling out because he was scared of losing.

Asked at a news conference if the Canadian halfpipe team had gained an advantage thanks to the online trashing of White by their slopestyle counterparts, veteran rider Crispin Lipscomb's answer was short and to the point.

"I'm sorry, who?"

When the laughter died down, Lipscomb explained that he felt his team were in a great position to do well at the Sochi Games, no matter the opposition.

"We've got an edge on all our competitors, we've got a great support team and our great team dynamic, so that stuff is somebody else's game that they play with each other," he told reporters.

"We stick to what we do in the pipe and we can only control what we do there."

Lipscomb and his Canadian team mates will face off against White when the halfpipe competition begins with qualifying on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Mitch Phillips)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.