Shaun White says AI in sports is leveling the playing field for athletes

Olympic snowboard legend Shaun White, a San Diego native who grew up far from alpine peaks, told Reuters that AI in sports is reshaping how competitors prepare, regardless of budget. “You’re seeing athletes there with full‑time coaches,” he said at the Brainstorm Tech summit in Aspen, noting his own humble start without lift‑ticket subsidies or private trainers. AI in sports now delivers analytics once reserved for elite camps, turning wearable sensor streams into actionable insights.

AI in sports transforms training

Modern platforms pair video capture with machine‑learning models that map an athlete’s motion to the millimeter. Google Cloud’s Gemini can generate world models down to the hundredth of a millimeter, pinpointing skeletal alignment and centre of gravity. The technology harvests massive streams of velocity, rotation and force data, then returns it as concise coaching cues in near‑real time. The result? A rise of AI tools by ↑ 27% among professional teams.

“It’s leveling the playing field,” White remarked, adding that the data could help prevent season‑ending injuries, a risk that has dropped ↓ 12% in pilot studies.

From half‑pipes to health dashboards

Earlier in his career, half‑pipes were hand‑dug; today, precision‑cut machines shape massive ice walls. Similarly, athletes can now simulate a new trick on a digital twin, gauge stress points and decide whether to attempt it. While the spontaneity of sport remains, White stresses that AI should augment—not replace—the human element.

International Olympic Committee plans to embed AI in judging, and leagues from MLB to soccer already rely on automated call systems. As the technology matures, the hope is that every competitor, from a backyard rider to a world‑class champion, gains access to the same analytical edge.

Words by: Donovan Trent

Global Sports Analytics Director