UNITED STATES snowboarder Shaun White has elected to skip the Olympic slopestyle event in Sochi in order to focus on the halfpipe discipline.

The reigning two-time Olympic halfpipe champion was seeking to extend his dominance in the debuting slopestyle event, which gets under way today with the qualifiers.

However, the 27-year-old admitted that he found the controversial Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ‘‘intimidating’’ and ‘‘a challenge’’ and added that he had twisted his wrist in practice.

Therefore, White has taken the decision to skip the event in order to become a threetime gold medallist in the halfpipe.

‘‘After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA,’’ White said.

‘‘The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of.’’ White’s absence is a boost to British competitors Jamie Nicholls and Billy Morgan.