Tony Hawk Has Some Retirement Advice For Shaun White: 'Do It For Fun'

Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk has some advice for one Olympic snowboarder!

Before he competed in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, three-time gold medalist and five-time Olympic athlete Shaun White announced that he planned to retire from the sport. Skateboarder Tony Hawk knows a little something about retirement and had some advice for White after he placed fourth in his final event.

In an interview posted on the Olympics website, Hawk encouraged White to keep riding, even if he doesn’t want to participate in competitions anymore.

“My advice to Shaun White, when it’s all over, would be this: keep riding,” he said. “But do it for fun. That’s what fuels you. It’s about that extension of yourself and that outlet.”

“I’m living proof of maybe how far you can take it, and to what age,” Hawk, now 52, added. White, 35, was the oldest American snowboarder to compete in the sport.

“It’s not about winning,” Hawk added. “I just think for his own sanity, he needs to keep riding his snowboard. Don’t just hang it up.”

“It’s so hard when you have been competing at that level for this long,” he added. “For him, it’s close to 20 years now. It’s really hard to turn that off.”

Now that White is done with snowboarding, is it possible that he’ll get into skateboarding?

“If Shaun wants to get back into skateboarding, he knows where to find me,” he joked.

As The Blast previously reported, Shaun White said that he is getting ready to start on a new chapter of his life, and that includes his current girlfriend, Nina Dobrev. The pair has been going strong since they met in 2019 and moved in together at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in early 2020.

“I can’t wait to get back and see her, see my family and start this next chapter of my life,” White said. He revealed that Dobrev’s support is what gave him the motivation to compete in his final competition.

“Her love and support’s been incredible,” he said. “She’s just been, every step of the way, meeting me, through training, calling me, hiding notes and things in my bag, just anything to brighten my day.”

“She knew all of my friends and family couldn’t be there and she got everyone together and made this incredible video of everyone saying how much they wish they could be there and sending their love and support,” he continued. “I’ve been playing that video every day while I’m here to get pumped up and feel support from back home. So that was just so wonderful. It really set the tone for the rest of the trip.”

It seems that White will probably take Hawk’s advice and keep snowboarding for fun, especially when “The Vampire Diaries” alum is a fan of the sport as well!

“I actually have been snowboarding since I was really little,” Dobrev explained in an interview shortly before he competed. “I skied first and then I switched over to snowboarding at probably 8 or 9.”

“I think [White] was more surprised when we went [snowboarding] for the first time,” Dobrev continued. “He was expecting to wait for me and it was quite the opposite. I had already passed him by a landslide … I can keep up!”

The two have so much in common that friends think that White is ready to pop the question! His retirement from snowboarding may mean that he is ready to settle down and start a family. One friend secretly dished on the couple and revealed that they’re just as cute behind the camera as they are in front of it!

“They are so freaking cute and solid together,” one friend of the couple reportedly said. “I would not be surprised if an engagement happens any day now.”

“They share so many interests, they’re both driven, they’re both into self-healing and well-being,” they continued. “They’re both very spiritual and motivated. They’ve both worked so hard for so many years to make their own careers, so now they’ve decided that any free minute they get, they spend with each other.”