Behind most Olympians’ successes are similar traits: precocious talent, hard work and starting at an almost unfathomably young age in common. But everyone still has their own unique story, and, with the 2014 Winter Olympics set to kick off February 7, we’re taking a look at some athletes as you’ve never seen them before. First up: two-time snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White.

Odds are you’ve known who Shaun White is for a long time — he’s been winning gold medals in the X Games since he was barely old enough to drive in his home state of California. For snowboarding (and skateboarding) enthusiasts, it must be hard to remember a time White wasn’t in the public eye.

And while indeed White was once a relatively anonymous kid, he’s been laying the groundwork for his current stardom practically since he’s been able to read. After a rough start to his life (as his official site details, he had two heart surgeries before he turned even a year old), he rebounded to shred pretty much every snow patch in his path. He learned to ski at age 4. Two years later he was snowboarding. He had sponsors almost as soon as he started. And by 10, he was doing this:

At 11, he was doing this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxY1LL3AUk&w=600&h=360]

Two years later he was a pro snowboarder. While it would be a few more years before he truly exploded into mainstream culture – he won his first X Games medals in 2002 and his first gold a year later – he was already well-known on the snowboarding scene. Well-known enough that photographer Trevor Graves captured this image of White before he looked quite like the guy (or had the hair) you know and love today:

From a kid letting a photographer tie fishing string around his face to a living legend in the span of a decade. Shaun White never moves slowly.

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