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Friday, February 26, 2010

Will the real Shaun White please stand up!


by CTVBC.ca

Double gold-medal winning snowboarder Shaun White is truly one of a kind. Nobody can pull off the Olympic U.S. athlete's signature move – the Double McTwist 1260.

Shaun White and Liz Schaffer

Everyone comes off as a pale imitation – maybe except for 41-year-old Vancouver resident Liz Schaeffer.

Schaeffer bears an uncanny resemblance to the 23-year-old California snowboarder – the long face, the eyes, and the curly red locks.

Wherever she walks, people do a double take, especially the Americans.

Schaeffer – who admits she didn't even know who Shaun White was until a few weeks ago – told CTV News she wasn't all that comfortable with the comparisons at first, but now she embraces it, even donning the same duds and posing happily for souvenir photos on the streets.

She said she's even gotten free drinks.

And, "I managed to get up on the screens at one of the women's hockey games," she said.

Since winning his second gold medal, White has become a household name and is assuredly on the road to multi-million dollar endorsement deals.

Liz Schaffer and Shaun White

Schaeffer lives a more humble life as a massage therapist.

She does snowboard, but don't expect her to be standing on a podium anytime soon.

"I'm from the Prairies, so my skills are limited, you know?" she said with a hint of a chuckle.

It's not known whether the real Shaun White even knows he has a doppelganger. He's left B.C. to hit the late-night show circuit --leaving behind a 41-year-old woman feeling half her age, and almost famous.

With a report from CTV's Rob Brown


*CTVBC.ca

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