Lindsey Jacobellis (born August 19, 1985) is an American

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 Paralympi ...

from

Roxbury, Connecticut Roxbury is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,260 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town is located northeast of New York City, and is p ...

. The most decorated female

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

athlete of all time, she dominated the sport for almost two decades as a five-time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and ten-time

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, ...

champion. In her Olympic debut at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Jacobellis won the silver medal in

but was unable to medal at the next three Olympics until winning gold at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Jacobellis also won gold (with teammate

Nick Baumgartner Nick Baumgartner (born December 17, 1981) is an American snowboarder from Iron River, Michigan. He competes in snowboard cross (SBX) and qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He won the gold and silver medals in the 2011 and 2012 Winter X Gam ...

) in mixed team snowboard cross at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Early life

Jacobellis was born in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

and grew up in Danbury and southern Vermont, where her family had a weekend home. Her parents, Ben and Anita Jacobellis encouraged her and her older brother Ben to participate in many sports. She was competitive from a young age, constantly trying to keep up with Ben or her father on the slopes. As a young child, she was primarily a skier, but she switched to snowboarding after the family's home burned when she was 8, destroying all her gear. She explains the switch by saying, "We couldn't afford to buy all new ski equipment; we could only afford to buy snowboards." She attended Vermont's

Stratton Mountain School The Stratton Mountain School is a college preparatory high school located at Stratton Mountain in Stratton, Vermont. The school was founded in 1972 by Warren Hellman and Donald Tarinelli. The current headmaster is Carson Thurber. Stratton Mount ...

, a college preparatory high school with a sports focus on training winter athletes, graduating in 2003. She was the only girl racing in snowboard cross and says that competing against boys influenced how she approached the sport.

Sports career

Jacobellis has

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

ed competitively in

, snowboard

slopestyle Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The disci ...

, and snowboard

halfpipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ra ...

competitions.

Early career

At the 2003 Winter X Games, Jacobellis won bronze in slopestyle. She made her Olympic debut at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, making her first Olympic final in the process. During the

final, Jacobellis was approaching the end of the course with a 43-

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

(140 ft), three-second lead over

Tanja Frieden Tanja Frieden (born 6 February 1976, in Bern) is a Swiss snowboarder. She won a gold medal in the inaugural Snowboard Cross competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics. In the Snowboard Cross finals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Frieden was in seco ...

of Switzerland. On the second-to-last jump, Jacobellis attempted a celebratory method grab, landed on the edge of her snowboard, and fell. Frieden passed her to win the gold; Jacobellis recovered and settled for silver. In televised interviews, Jacobellis initially said the grab was meant to maintain stability, but later said that "I was having fun. Snowboarding is fun, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd". At the 2007

Winter X Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...

, Jacobellis lost the lead in a fall near the finish line in snowboard cross. She dropped halfpipe from her competition schedule in 2008 due to increasing injuries. Jacobellis regained the gold medal in snowboard cross at

Winter X Games XII Winter X Games XII were held from January 24 to January 27, 2008 in Aspen, Colorado, Aspen, Colorado. They were the 7th consecutive X Games, Winter X Games to be held in Aspen. Television coverage of Winter X Games XII was broadcast on ESPN and Am ...

in 2008.

2010–2013

Jacobellis failed to progress to the medal round of

at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, as early in her semifinal race, she landed badly during a jump, and to avoid a collision with another rider, went through a gate, resulting in automatic disqualification; she then slid off the course. She ended up 5th in the standings. In 2011, Jacobellis won her fourth straight gold in snowboard cross at the

, adding to her gold medals in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

2014–2017

Jacobellis failed to progress to the medal round of

at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. She was leading the semifinal race when she crashed. She finished in 7th place in the overall standings. At the 2015 World Championship, Jacobellis won gold in snowboard cross. She also won th
2017 World Championship
and finished with a silver and two golds in the first World Cup races of the 2017–2018 season. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that in the period between the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, in addition to her training, surfing, and other competition strategies, Jacobellis also began working with the mental skills coach Denise Shull.

2018–present

At the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, Jacobellis made her second Olympic

final. After leading most of the way, she missed the podium by .003 seconds, finishing in 4th place. In her fifth Olympics, Jacobellis finally became the Olympic champion in

at the

. This was the first gold medal for the US in Beijing, ending a five-day gold medal drought. Various media outlets lauded her perseverance in winning after a sixteen-year chase for Olympic gold. Jacobellis followed up her individual gold by winning the debut of the mixed team snowboard cross with partner

Television

Jacobellis appeared on a charity edition of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

s '' The Challenge'', titled '' The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros''. She competed to raise money for the

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...

. She finished as the runner-up with her teammate in the final challenge,

Kamerion Wimbley Kamerion Wimbley (born October 13, 1983) is a former American football outside linebacker and defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft with the 13th ove ...

. In addition to her athletic skill, she is known for her naturally curly hair and is sponsored by hair care brand Paul Mitchell.

References

External links

* * * * *
Lindsey Jacobellis
at NBC Olympics * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobellis, Lindsey 1985 births Living people American female snowboarders Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics X Games athletes People from Windham County, Vermont People from Danbury, Connecticut Olympic gold medalists for the United States in snowboarding Olympic silver medalists for the United States in snowboarding Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Vermont Sportspeople from Connecticut The Challenge (TV series) contestants 21st-century American women