Check out this video, ‘Russia Calling’, by Shaun White, showing his training and qualification for the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Rather than just being another one of those overly optimistic videos showing just the best bits of an athlete’s road to Sochi, this gives a very real look at the hard work, frustration and pain that has to be endured in the process.
This 45 minute behind the scenes documentary focuses on Shaun and his trainer, Bud Keene, doing weeks and weeks of physical training, ice baths and practice runs to try and nail a triple cork in a half pipe. It covers the highs and lows of landing new tricks and visits to the hospital.
Sure, most people would think Shaun is living the dream, flying around the world and snowboarding all the time, but you can’t help but feel a bit sorry for him after watching this – the sheer pressure and constant media coverage he has to put up with is colossal and you can really see how much winning a medal at Sochi would mean to him.
UPDATE:
Looks like Shaun White asked for this video to be taken down from the original YouTube channel it was posted on, found another version here: