Cara-Beth Burnside, nicknamed "CB" (born July 23, 1971 in
Orange, California
Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other ...
, United States), is a professional
skateboarder
Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...
and
snowboarder
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...
and ranks amongst the top female athletes in these sports in the world. She was the first president of the
Action Sports Alliance.
Skateboarding Career
Burnside started skating in men's amateur skating competitions in the 1980s due to the lack of women's skate contests. During this time, Burnside started to learn to snowboard due to the lack of professional opportunities for female skaters.
As a skateboarder, Burnside has won more than 16 titles in competitions such as the
X Games
The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...
, All Girl Skate Jam, Vans Triple Crown,
Slam City Jam and Soul Bowl, and in 2004 she was named Female
Vert Skater of the Year by World Cup Skating.
[Women of Action Cara-Beth Burnside video interview and biography](_blank)
She has received a total of 5 Summer X Games medals for skateboarding.
In 1989, Burnside became the first woman to appear on the cover of
Thrasher Magazine
''Thrasher'' is a skateboarding magazine founded in January 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. The publication consists primarily of skateboard- and music-related articles, photography, interviews and skatepark reviews.
The magazine also ...
and in 1999, she became the first woman to have a signature
skate shoe
Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish
*Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae
* Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae
* Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...
.
Burnside was named ''
TransWorld Skateboarding
''Transworld Skateboarding'' (''TWS'') was an international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In February 2019, the pub ...
''
's female vert skater of the year in 2004.
In 2015, Burnside was inducted in to the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
Snowboarding Career
Burnside was on the first United States Olympic snowboarding team at the 1998
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
in
Nagano Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Universi ...
, Japan, where she placed 4th.
[Cara Beth Burnside Official Website biography](_blank)
She has also won titles at the snowboarding Grand Prix, the X Games and the Vans Triple Crown.
She has received a total of 3 Winter X Games medals for snowboarding.
Personal life
Burnside is an advocate for opportunities in
women's sports
The participation of women and girls in sports, physical fitness and exercise, has been recorded to have existed throughout history. However, participation rates and activities vary in accordance with nation, era, geography, and stage of econ ...
and founded the Action Sports Alliance in 2005 to create more professional opportunities for women in sports.
The Action Sports Alliance also helped secure
equal pay
Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...
for women at the X Games.
Burnside is a vegetarian.
The 2008 World's Sexiest Vegetarians Are… // Out There // peta2
Filmography
She is featured in the beginning and end titles for the documentary film ''Not Bad for a Girl
''Not Bad for a Girl'' is a documentary on women musicians of the 90s from the indie rock music genre grunge and riot grrrl and celebrates madness, creativity, and gender play. It was written, directed, produced and shot by rock phenomenologist fe ...
''.
Video Game Appearances
Burnside is a playable character in the video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
'' Grind Session'' and '' Tony Hawk: Ride''.
References
External links
Girls Skate Network Interview
American skateboarders
American female snowboarders
Female skateboarders
Living people
X Games athletes
1971 births
Sportspeople from Orange, California
Snowboarders at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Olympic snowboarders of the United States
21st-century American women
University of California, Davis alumni
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