Tara Dakides (born August 20, 1975) 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 ...

and co-owner of O-matic Snowboards. She was born in Mission Viejo, California, and has snowboarded since she was 13 years old. She now resides in

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Career

As a child, she took part in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and skateboarding. When she was a teenager, she branched out into several other more dangerous sports and became involved in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

, surfing, mountain- and snow-based sports. This variety of sports experience gave her an edge in 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, ...

competitions. At the

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 cultur ...

in 1999 Dakides won a silver medal in

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 disc ...

and a gold in

big air Big air is a high-injury-risk sports discipline where the competitor rides a vehicle, such as a motocross motorcycle, a skateboard, a snowboard, or a pair of skis, down a hill or ramp and performs aerial tricks after launching off very large jumps ...

, in 2000 she won two gold medals, one in slopestyle with a combined score of 88.50 after three runs, the other in big air with a combined score of 78.00. In 2001, she won another big air gold medal with a score of 89.00, and she was seventh in slopestyle. At the 2001 Sims World Championships she was first in slopestyle and fifth in big air At the 2002 X Games she won her third slopestyle gold medal. She also received EXPN's Snowboarder of the Year award. In May 2003 Dakides participated in the

Gumball 3000 The Gumball 3000 is an annual international celebrity motor rally, which takes place on public roads. The name comes from the 1976 movie ''The Gumball Rally''. It was established in 1999 by Maximillion Cooper, with his vision to combine cars, ...

rally race. She continues to race in motocross, shifter carts in addition to racing in the Baja 1000 competition.

Media

She has appeared as a cover model for various sports magazines and has appeared in various video games. In 2001, she was on the cover of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

and was named "The Coolest Sports Woman in 2001". Dakides was featured on Spike TV's special edition of MXC on April 22, 2004 which was taped at the

Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operated by Universal Pa ...

in Orlando, Florida and was dubbed ''MXC Almost Live''. At the end of the episode, Dakides successfully ran the Log Drop after being challenged by

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

. During her appearance on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' in 2004, Dakides attempted to perform a stunt outside the Ed Sullivan Theater but fell 15 feet from a ramp while not wearing a helmet. She was taken to hospital and required stitches on the back of her head. She recovered and returned to the show for an interview a few days later. Dakides is a spokesperson for the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

organization. Dakides was nominated for the

2005 Teen Choice Awards The 2005 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 16, 2005, at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California. The awards celebrate the year's achievements in music, film, television, sports, fashion, comedy, video games, and the Inte ...

in the category of Choice Xtreme Athlete - Female, losing out to surfer

Layne Beachley Layne Collette Beachley (born 24 May 1972) is a former professional surfer from Manly, New South Wales. She won the World Championship seven times. Currently she is the chair of Surfing Australia. Surfing career At the age of 16 Beachley ...

. She was ranked #90 on

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

's 100 Sexiest Women of 2004. She was featured in episode 62 of MTV Cribs. Dakides appeared as the captain of the Denver Hurlers on Game Show Network's show ''

Extreme Dodgeball ''Extreme Dodgeball'' is an American game show based on the game of dodgeball that aired between 2004 and 2005 on the Game Show Network. The series ran for three seasons, each of which featured six to eight teams of five to seven players. The f ...

''. She also had a role in the film '' Chalet Girl'' in which she played herself and starred alongside ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'' star

Ed Westwick Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's ''Gossip Girl'' as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series ''White Gold''. He made his feature film debut in '' Chil ...

and

Felicity Jones Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tel ...

References

American female snowboarders 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Mission Viejo, California People from Mammoth Lakes, California 21st-century American women {{US-snowboarding-bio-stub