White was crowned Olympic halfpipe champion at Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Pyeongchang 2018, and hopes to compete at Beijing 2022 next month but has still not secured a place at the Games.

He withdrew from the competition at the Californian resort after a qualifying run on Saturday (January 8), with US head coach Mike Jankowski citing a recurrence of an ankle injury.

However, an Associated Press report claims that White was suffering from fatigue and shortness of breath, having tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

Prior to the event in the Californian resort, White had told Olympics.com that he had recently had coronavirus and that it had "not been a fun experience".

"I had asthma as a kid and I have a heart condition," White explained.

"So you know, anything to do with lungs and respiratory is not so great and it's just been like this lingering cold."

The competition in Mammoth was the final qualification event to secure a place on the American snowboarding team for Beijing 2022, with the remaining places at the discretion of coaches.

White is a legend of the sport, with more Olympic and Winter X Games medals than any other snowboarder, and is expected to be given an Olympic berth.

White has competed at four Winter Olympic Games and confirmed last month that he expects Beijing 2022 to be his last.