By Bret Liebendorfer

His athletic accomplishments would be akin to Michael Jordan dominating basketball and playing minor baseball, as well as winning an NFL Most Valuable Player, leading the NHL in goals and winning a NASCAR championship. But during this year’s Olympics, outside of snowboarding magazines, the media has failed to pick up on the story of Shaun Palmer’s drive to be an Olympian. 

Two stories have dominated the games this year and received more attention in the U.S. media than all of the other stories combined. The first was when Michelle Kwan—one of the top figure skaters of all-time—withdrew from the Olympics. Kwan was favored to win in the only competition she had failed to yet finish in first. The other is the rebellious, bad-boy lifestyle of skier Bode Miller. 

Nowhere is there a mention of Shaun Palmer. Unlike Kwan’s single-sport dominance, Palmer excels at every sport he attempts. And his partying lifestyle makes Miller’s antics look as trivial as a highschooler drinking three wine coolers after the senior prom. 

For those unfamiliar with Shaun Palmer, USA Today proclaimed him the World’s Greatest Athlete in 1998. He began his quest for the title in 1985 at the age of 17 by winning the half-pipe, slalom and downhill competitions at the Snowboard World Championships. 

It was the sport he would dominate in the X Games, Gravity Games and other contests until 2000. During his snowboarding reign, he also founded one of the most successful snowboard companies and sponsored a video game (don’t laugh, this venture has made him millions). 

Towards the end of his snowboard days, Palmer’s competitive side convinced him to take up mountain biking, snowmobile racing, skiing and even motocross. 

At the very least, Palmer competed with the best in each sport. Compare this to someone like Kwan who devoted all her time to a single sport. 

Palmer has been absent from the spotlight since his 2002 “retirement.” It was then he focused on motocross racing, a sport known for top racers starting as early as four years old and retiring once they hit their 30s—if they make it that far. 

Palmer didn’t start racing motocross seriously until he was in the sport’s golden age and hasn’t dominated the sport like others he’s taken up. After an alleged deal with a major motocross company fell through, Palmer turned to the bottle, pills and blow. 

On May 30, 2005, his partying resulted in an airlift to a Reno hospital. With the media obsessed over Miller’s partying, why wouldn’t they be into Palmer’s? He makes Miller’s rowdy behavior, three beers and “partying all night” (until midnight) before an Olympic competition, seem rather tame. 

It was during the aforementioned hospital visit that Palmer decided to stage a comeback. Getting back to his competitive side was the only thing that would keep him alive. Coincidentally, it just so happens the 2006 Winter Olympics were debuting snowboardcross, a sport that looks like a BMX racetrack on a snowy mountain where snowboarders race side-by-side down a course littered with jumps and turns. 

This was one of Palmer’s favorite and best events. 

Critics wrote the 37-year-old off—Palmer had not competed in years and besides, a new form of athleticism has replaced the all-or-nothing mentality that once gave Palmer the edge. 

But he did the unexpected and qualified for a position on the U.S. men’s team with a second-place finish at the World Cup snowboardcross in Austria. In the final, Palmer led until a mistake near the finish. The closest American to Palmer’s time was Seth Wescott, who finished seventh. 

The following week at another World Cup event in Italy, Palmer tore his Achilles tendon, ending his shot at an Olympic bid—this time around. 

So with all the hoopla about Kwan and Miller, where’s Palmer’s recognition? Sure Kwan is the best at what she does, but imagine if she also kicked ass in luge, ski jump, snowboard half-pipe and cross-country skiing? As for Miller, his personality is refreshing amongst the usually stale and monotonous Olympic athletes, but his partying is low—at least, by the newly established standards of the Xtreme athletes who are the future of sport, like it or not. 

On Feb. 16, the finals for the inaugural snowboardcross event in Olympic history took place. Wescott took the gold. Palmer had beaten all three medal winners in the World Cup race before his injury. It’ll be another four years before we can see if Palmer finally does get the Olympic spotlight he deserves.