Seth Wescott (born June 28, 1976) 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 Paralympic ...

. He is a two-time Olympic champion in the snowboard cross.

Life and career

Wescott was born in Durham, North Carolina, and lives in Whistler,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Growing up, Wescott went to Mount Blue regional school district in Farmington, Maine. His father Jim Wescott was the Track and Cross Country coach at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

. He began snowboarding at age 10, but had also grown up skiing. In 1989, after competing in both sports for a few years, he stopped skiing to focus mainly on snowboarding. Wescott attended

Carrabassett Valley Academy Carrabassett Valley Academy (CVA) is a private skiing, ski and snowboard academy in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain (Franklin County, Maine), Sugarloaf Mountain. Established in 1982, the school's alumni include Olym ...

where he studied and trained with fellow Olympians

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male America ...

, Jeff Greenwood,

Kirsten Clark Kirsten Lee Clark (born April 23, 1977) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. Born in Portland, Maine, she made her World Cup debut in November 1995 and retired from international competition following the 2007 season. ...

and Emily Cook. He started out at Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. In his 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 ...

Torino Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. T ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Wescott won gold in the snowboard cross as the first Olympic champion in the event. Having won gold, Wescott was invited to meet president George W. Bush, but turned down the offer, citing his opposition to Bush's foreign and domestic policies. 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 Gret ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Wescott successfully defended his Olympic gold. Wescott, who started off the race in fourth, slowly advanced throughout the field until the end, when he narrowly defeated hometown favorite Mike Robertson on the final jump. Wescott co-owns The Rack, a restaurant and bar near

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a r ...

that caters food and drinks to skiers and snowboarders. On February 25, 2010, Wescott appeared on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

''. In 2012, he participated in

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's dating game show '' The Choice''. Wescott attended Western State College in Gunnison, CO.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * *
NBC Olympics

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wescott, Seth 1976 births American male snowboarders Living people Olympic gold medalists for the United States in snowboarding Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina People from Franklin County, Maine Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics X Games athletes Olympic medalists in snowboarding Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Participants in American reality television series Sportspeople from Maine 20th-century American people 21st-century American people