He wouldn’t be called “The Flying Tomato” if not for his great skill in snowboarding while at the same time donning his famous red hairdo. Sure you know who this guy is especially if you’re an extreme sports fan. Right, it’s Shaun White, a native of Carlsbad, California and a certified professional snowboarder.

Becoming a professional snowboarder at the young age of 14 is not an easy feat but thanks to White’s persistence and determination to be the best in this field, he has gone a long way since then. He’s really good in snowboarding that every individual who sees his tricks will be in awe of this kid’s skills.

Born on September 3, 1986, Shaun Roger White has always loved skateboarding, surfing as a kid. But despite his hobbies, he still managed to get good marks in school which was truly admirable. He credits his big brother Jesse for teaching him to ride well and do the grabs and spins. In fact, the entire White family including mom and dad, sister Kari, Jesse and Shaun are so much into this extreme sport that they travel together to join competitions whenever possible. It’s what actually ties them together, says Shaun’s mom.

White honed his snowboarding skills at Snow Summit, at Big Bear Ski Resort in San Bernardino, Southern California. He got to better his tricks and stunts at the former Westbridge snowboard park. Both brother Jesse and mom Kathy share the same observation that Shaun is a lucky child to have had great balance at a very young age and not having encountered any major injuries in this sport, so far.

It was in 1998 at the age of 13 when Shaun first joined an amateur contest, the USASA National Championship, where he ended up as the overall champ. Since that time, this kid has always placed in the top 10 spot in all the competitions he’s joined in.

On the professional level, Shaun has been a major participant in the Winter X Games since 2002 where he always took home a medal each year. To date, he now has 7 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. Shaun is also the first male athlete to have won the first four-peat medal in the snowboard slopestyle. For the record, White is one of only two athletes who have earned 7 gold medals in the entire history of the Winter X games.

His other achievements are in the 2006 Winter Olympics as a gold medalist in the men’s halfpipe and in the25th Annual Burton US Open in 2007 (3rd in slopestyle, 1st in halfpipe) where he also earned the “Male Burton Global Open Champion.”

These are the not the end of Shaun’s achievements because this guy does not seem to lose a bit of energy when it comes to snowboarding. There’s no way to go for him but up so, you go boy!