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Olympics: Park City’s Sage Kotsenburg tells NBCSports he will not defend slopestyle gold in South Korea

Olympics • Park City native would rather be behind the camera than in front of it.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Sage Kotsenburg, of Park City, competes in the Men's Slopestyle Finals at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Saturday February 8, 2014. Kotsenburg won the gold medal with a score of 93.50.

The book on Sage Kotsenburg's Olympic legacy will have just one chapter.

The 23-year-old Park City snowboarder will not defend his gold medal in snowboard slopestyle at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February.

The innovative, acrobatic daredevil told NBC OlympicTalk that he's decided to retire from contest riding and will continue to pursue his passion of filming and directing snowboard films instead of chasing more Olympic medals.

"I had my heart set on stopping competing after the Olympics, and then winning puts you in such a different mindset," Kotsenburg told the network. "I didn't really know what I wanted to do anymore. I was on a high, so pumped on competing."

The drive to create and try new tricks mid-air waned, he added. Kostenburg said he simply didn't have the edge to try new tricks anymore.

"I finally said to myself, I've got to do what makes me happy," he said. "Competing doesn't make me happy right now."

The decision should not come as a shock.

Kotsenburg told The Tribune last December that becoming a filmmaker in the sport was his main motivation going forward. Kotsenburg knew of the exact dates of the qualifying events for South Korea's Games, but also said that if his heart wasn't in it, he wouldn't aimlessly chase a dream that was no longer his.

After saying he was on the fence about defending his gold medal from the Sochi Olympics in Russia — the first in snowboard slopestyle history — Kotsenburg said getting away from the strict rules of the sport helped clear his mind and find a new appreciation.

When he wasn't spending the last couple years globetrotting around Asia or Europe making snowboard films, he was studying weather patterns for the best powder riding or backcountry hot spots.

Asked if he envisioned getting that familiar Olympic itch, Kotsenburg didn't seem too worried.

"If I suddenly get an urge to compete, then I'll make sure I'm at the top of my game before I do it," he said in December. "I don't want to show up to anything and not be ready, because that'll just get me bummed out. I'll definitely make sure I'm ready to compete when I do. We'll see when the time comes."

Kotsenburg is stepping away as a reigning gold medal champion. Growing up in Park City as a regular at Park City Mountain Resort, Kotsenburg's skill set on the board grew in his teenage years as he was never shied away from trying tricks of high difficulty in competition.

Kostenburg won his first major slopestyle race at the 2014 Olympic qualifying event. But his gilded run in Sochi will forever be looped over and over in YouTube clips. His signature "Holy Crail" helped him land gold, a trick that was an offshoot of a "Japan Air," which featured rotating and corking his body simultaneously and reaching back with one arm grabbing the edge of his board.

That run launched Kotsenburg into Olympic stardom. With his shaggy blonde hair always dipping out of his beanies, he made appearances on late-night talk shows with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. The Park City rider landed on the cover of an Olympics Wheaties box after winning gold in Russia in 2014.

But the limelight grew uncomfortable for Kostenburg. He declined an invitation to the Academy Awards a few weeks after celebrating his Olympic gold medal to go ride powder in Switzerland.

Kotsenburg now steps away, but he does it with a gold medal in tow, with memories of that bluebird day in Sochi that carved out a piece of history for a Park City kid who just loved to ride.

ckamrani@sltrib.com Twitter: @chriskamrani

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Sage Kotsenburg, of Park City, competes in the Men's Slopestyle Finals at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Saturday February 8, 2014. Kotsenburg won the gold medal with a score of 93.50.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Sage Kotsenburg, of Park City, poses for a portrait after winning in the Men's Slopestyle Finals at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Saturday February 8, 2014. Kotsenburg won the gold medal with a score of 93.50.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Sage Kotsenburg, of Park City, reacts after competing in the Men's Slopestyle Finals at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Saturday February 8, 2014. Kotsenburg won the gold medal with a score of 93.50.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Sage Kotsenburg of the United States competes in the Men's Slopestyle Semifinals at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Saturday February 8, 2014.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Sage Kotsenburg poses for a portrait at Park City Mountain Resort Tuesday June 3, 2014. Kotsenburg won a gold medal in the Men's Snowboard Slopestyle in Sochi, Russia.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Olympian Sage Kotsenburg talks with the media during press conference in advance of the Governor's State of Sport Awards at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah Tuesday, April 22, 2014.