Shaun White is the most decorated snowboarder in history. He’s dominated snowboarding at the X Games for the decade, amassing 13 gold medals, 3 silver and 2 bronze in slopestyle and superpipe. He’s also a double Olympic champion, taking home gold at Vancouver 2010 and Turin 2006. He’s now aiming at his third consecutive halfpipe title at Sochi 2014.

But clearly White divides opinions – on the one hand he’s best competitive snowboarder ever, on the other he’s portrayed as pathologically driven – something that flies in opposition to the culture of snowboarding – and his celebrity persona seems out of kilter with the rest of the snowboarding community. So here are nine reasons Shaun White divides opinions.