( CNN ) -- Most Olympic athletes will use any natural advantage to win gold and Shaun White is no exception -- the only difference is that the champion snowboarder says it 's a life-threatening heart condition as a child that has given him the edge . Born with a condition that can lead to blue baby syndrome , White had two open-heart operations before he was 12 months old , something he believes has given him the will to win . `` If you have something dramatic like that happening to you at that age it puts something in you , '' says the laid-back Californian and double Olympic Champion . `` You 're fighting to survive at that young age it puts a little fight in you . It 's one of those messages of do n't give up and do n't ever let people or things or your own mind tell you what you ca n't do . '' White has wasted no time since then . An undisputed giant who has transformed snowboarding from a snow dog hobby into a global sport , he got his first snowboard sponsorship at the age of seven , became a pro at 13 and picked up his first gold medal at the Turin Winter Olympic Games at the tender age of 19 . Now at 24 , and with two Olympic championships under his belt , the laid-back Californian has become his own brand . His prodigious skills , both on a snowboard and a skateboard , meant he had something of a double life growing up . Eventually competing on the slopes won out and school was exchanged for a private tutor . Despite having won everything in the sport -- he holds 16 `` X Games '' medals -- his education on the slopes continues . `` It 's funny to see how far you can come within a couple of years , '' he says . `` A lot of people , they ca n't stand the pressure of having to win , of having to feel like people are watching or expecting things . I love it . I like the fact that people are counting on me to do something brand new , something that 's never been done before and be the guy . I like that feeling and so I use it as a motivator , I tend to rise to the occasion . '' He was certainly ahead of his time , competing against people much older than him when other children his age were just starting high school . `` It 's bizarre . Everybody was a lot older than I was by the time I went pro at 13 . I had been winning the amateur contests for like five years in a row but it was always the same run ... It 's a very different story when you show up to an event and you hope to win , you are the guy to beat , you know it 's a little different , '' he says . `` I 'd win snowboard contests and I could n't get the award because it was at a bar so I 'd be sitting outside like 'Hey , I won , going to go home now and play video games ' you know . '' White 's biggest achievement came winning his first gold medal at the Olympics in 2006 , but he 's been able to appreciate all the highs of his career to date . `` It 's usually the first time you won something that makes it the most special moment , like the first time I won ' X Games ' , I won two golds , '' he says . `` I did n't make the Olympics when I was 15 by three tenths of a point so it was like 'Should he go ? No , not yet ' . I remember coming back and winning that when I was 19 and it was the best thing ever . '' White was recently in China promoting the sport in a booming winter sports market , as well as being on call for some of his sponsors . Balancing his snowboarding and his business interests can be tough , he says . `` You can get lost in the products and doing all these things but I hold true to myself that I am a snowboarder , I always add things to that . `` That 's the way it is for me and snowboarding . I like to take my time away from it and come back feeling stronger and refreshed and able to do new things . `` And if you 've been sitting in the mountains for a month , just been sucked in and you 're not doing anything where 's your motivation ? Where 's your lust to go out there and learn something new and a trick that could possibly injure you . It 's one of those things where you need to feel that way and you need to feel excited . ''
Shaun White is the most successful snowboarder . Turned pro at 13 and won his first Winter Olympic gold medal at 19 . Also won Olympic gold in Vancouver in 2010 , has 16 ' X Games ' medals . ' I like that people are counting on me to do something brand new , ' he says .